


Healing in Your Arms

by ArcaneWeapon



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020), Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Clerith, Dark Past, Drama, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, F/M, Falling In Love, Feels, Friendship, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death, Painful Backstory, Relationship(s), Romance, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:33:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 40,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28059234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArcaneWeapon/pseuds/ArcaneWeapon
Summary: Cloud is an ex-SOLDIER, a seeming impossibility as everyone knows the only way out of Shinra’s elite is through death. His unspoken past weighs on him heavily, his body covered with invisible scars.Aerith is a flower vendor, selling her bouquets in trouble-filled streets on the outskirts of the city.  She thinks someone like her doesn’t deserve better, trauma from her past blinding her.As these two broken individuals stumble across each other in the streets of Midgar, can they work together to overcome their pasts, heal, and find comfort in the other’s arms?
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough & Tifa Lockhart, Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart & Cloud Strife
Comments: 58
Kudos: 54





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The idea for this story came to me after I finished doing the rewrite on the fifth chapter of New Friends, New Enemies. The scene with Cloud and Aerith learning more about each other just really resonated with me, and I wanted to focus on that and make it the core aspect of a story. Most of my other stories have had antagonists pushing the plot forward for the heroes to save the day in the end. Not so this time. I want to narrow in on the relationships between Cloud, Aerith, and Tifa this time, and at least attempt to tell a story about what it means to feel; both for yourself, and for others.
> 
> While I wrote this originally as a one-shot, it ended up growing far beyond my expectations. I never planned on including chapters, so instead, I've broken it into sections which, hopefully, feel natural together. I'll be posting three of these sections a week, which means the full story should be up before the end of the year.
> 
> I, of course, also have to give an immense thank you to [Lichtschwert](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lichtschwert/pseuds/Lichtschwert) for helping to beta this entire story. You've gone well above and beyond the call of duty and truly helped raise the quality of this story. I cannot express enough how much your help has meant to me. Thank you so much!

Tifa let out a defeated breath, reaching the conclusion she'd been heading towards for what felt like a week now. She'd tried _so_ hard to make this work. It hadn't helped. Because, at the end of the day, she was only half of the equation.

She lay on her back in her bed, one hand resting on her forehead, partially covering her eyes. Tifa was wearing only her underwear under the sheets, her typical choice for the hot summer nights that were so common this time of year in Midgar. "Cloud," she murmured, not looking over at the man in question lying under the sheets on the other side of the bed. "I think we should break up."

"I'm sorry," was Cloud's only response, causing her to frown in frustration.

"Don't," she warned. "You know I hate it when you apologize for something that's not your fault."

She felt his body shifting on the other side of the bed—presumably in discomfort—before stilling again. "Sorry," he whispered.

Tifa let out a loud sigh of exasperation, rolling her eyes, having already anticipated his follow up from past experience. "It's not your fault," she repeated, being completely honest. "I… I just can't take this anymore." She glanced over at him from the corner of her eye and saw him nodding softly in response.

"I know. I get it Tifa, I really do," he replied, his voice surprisingly gentle. "I just wish I could have made you happy."

Tifa shifted over onto her side, putting her back to Cloud, not wanting him to see the tears in her eyes. She took a moment before responding, trying to prevent those same tears from impacting her voice. "You idiot, you did make me happy."

She could feel him move on his side of the bed again, part of her wishing he was closing the distance between them. She wanted to feel him wrap his arms around her and hold her close against his chest in an embrace. But Tifa knew that that was just a fantasy, something Cloud would simply never do. No, he was probably only getting comfortable to fall asleep. She'd never felt so lonely before. So lost.

"Good night, Tifa," he said quietly.

"Night Cloud," she whispered back. "Sleep well."

She sobbed silently to herself—her body softly shaking—making sure not to let any sound escape her lips, as she thought back on the past few months and wished things had worked out differently.

When Tifa woke up and rolled over to find the other side of the bed empty the next morning, she wasn't surprised. Hurt he'd felt the need to leave before she woke, but not surprised. She'd known what she was signing up for, after all. Cloud had been very clear about it from the moment she'd asked him out. She hadn't realized how much he'd meant it. How broken he truly was.

If anything, it only firmed her resolve that breaking up with him had been the right decision. For both of them.

Slapping her cheeks with both hands, she sat up and let out a deep breath. "Come on Tifa, up and at 'em."

* * *

Aerith yawned, putting a hand over her mouth to be polite until it had faded. Then, she moved her hand to the door of Seventh Heaven and pushed it open, before stepping inside. Someone who didn't know better might have found it strange, seeing a young woman her age walking into what looked like a fairly run-down bar so early in the morning. Of course, all the locals knew that if you wanted the best breakfast for miles around, there was no better place.

As Aerith entered the bar, she glanced around at the cozy interior, recognizing a few familiar faces she smiled at. Her attention was drawn to the dark-haired woman standing behind the counter, chatting and laughing with a customer. She made her way over to the counter, passing by a jukebox that was currently silent, a well-used dart board, and the annoyingly loud pinball table. Taking a seat at one of the empty stools, Aerith couldn't help but notice Tifa had faint, dark circles under her eyes. She frowned in concern. In the many years she had known Tifa, she couldn't recall her friend ever looking this… disheveled. Once Tifa had finished serving the customer she'd been chatting with, she walked over to lean against the counter opposite Aerith, picking up a dirty glass and idly starting to clean it.

"You alright?" Aerith asked worriedly. "You're looking a little under the weather this morning..."

Tifa sighed softly under her breath, her eyes closing briefly. "I broke up with my boyfriend last night," she explained sourly, her mouth twisting.

Aerith froze, eyes wide, worried she'd inadvertently stepped on a landmine and unsure what to say next.

"Lighten up a little," Tifa laughed, although Aerith thought it sounded forced. "It's... not that big of a deal."

"Did… did he hurt you?" Aerith asked softly, her eyes fixed on the bar.

"What? No, no of course not!" Tifa vehemently denied.

"Then he cheated on you?" she demanded, a hint of anger in her voice. "He had to have done something wrong, otherwise, you wouldn't look so crushed."

"No! Nothing like that!" Tifa put the glass she'd been cleaning down on the bar, and leaned over, Aerith feeling her friend's hand cupping her cheek. She let her head be lifted so she was now looking into Tifa's crimson eyes.

"Look… I know what you're getting at, but this… this isn't like what happened to you, okay?" Tifa said gently.

Aerith slowly nodded her head, a single tear tracing its way down her cheek. "You'd been together for so long though…" she said hesitantly, sniffing as she wiped the tear away.

"Well… it was only six months…"

Aerith felt like a void had opened inside her. Six months seemed like an eternity to her. It always hurt when she realized how distorted her reality was from what was apparently normal.

"Seriously, don't worry about it, okay? The breakup was mutual. We just didn't... work. I'm fine," Tifa said, smiling warmly.

Aerith relaxed slightly and smiled back at her friend, nodding as she felt some of the tension drain from her body. Tifa stood back up, grabbing the glass she'd set down and resuming the same motion of cleaning it with the cloth in her other hand, a somewhat awkward silence settling between them. Aerith was pretty sure it wasn't possible for that glass to get any cleaner, but she wasn't going to point that out.

"What was his name?" Aerith asked curiously after a few moments had passed. "Now that I actually think about it, I can't remember you ever mentioning it, not even once."

Tifa grimaced slightly, her hands faltering for a moment before they resumed their movement. "It's weird, I know," she admitted. "I guess I just always had this feeling that things wouldn't work out in the end, so I never brought it up. Since it looks like I was right, there's not really any reason to even mention it now."

Aerith frowned at this, but let it go, not wanting to push on something that didn't matter anymore. She was a little hurt her friend didn't seem to want to share it with her, but at the same time, Aerith completely understood the power a name could hold. Her stomach decided to make its displeasure with this long conversation known, as it let out a loud grumble, Tifa giggling as she heard it. Aerith joined in, and she felt the last of her tension fade away as she laughed with her friend.

"Let's get you taken care of. I assume you want the usual?" Tifa asked, already turning to start preparing the meal.

Aerith nodded, smiling back at her friend as they slipped into a lighter conversation about weekend plans.

* * *

Cloud wasn't sure what he was doing as he wandered through the streets of Midgar. An hour ago he'd been sitting in his apartment, mindlessly flicking through channels on the television, wondering why he kept putting others through the pain of a breakup. He knew he should feel more than he did, if not the pain he could read on his partner's face, or hear in their voice, then at least anything more than only the faint sadness and regret he was left with. For once, the breakup with Tifa last week had actually come close.

As he'd lain there in bed, feeling the mattress quivering softly with her sobbing, he'd thought there had been a faint twinge of... something. It had been so long, however, since he'd last felt anything like it, that he wasn't quite able to place it. That didn't prevent him from staring up at the ceiling, unable to sleep, however. No, if anything, the one thing Cloud was excellent at was castigating himself for his past mistakes as he failed to sleep.

He knew he was broken, more importantly, he knew _why_ he was broken. Not that knowing made it any easier or caused him not to blame himself. Before he'd agree to start dating anyone, he always made sure to tell them the what, but not the why. _Never_ the why.

He felt it was only fair to let them know what they were getting into. More often than not they'd dismiss it, assuming he was being shy. They would reassure him that with them, things would be different. It wasn't like Cloud _wanted_ to be like this, though, so he'd reluctantly agree to try, to see if maybe they were right. So far, at least, that had never been the case.

Glancing around, he realized in his wanderings through the back streets of the city, he'd ended up getting himself lost. Cloud saw a small flower stall across the street, but couldn't see anyone working there to get directions from. He wondered who would set up shop here, given how remote the location was, not to mention the danger of this area. Sighing, he leaned against the wall of the building next to him, glancing at the wide variety of flowers on display, as he pulled his phone from his pocket to get directions back home.

He froze when he saw Tifa's smiling face on the lock screen, cursing himself under his breath for not having replaced it yet. Deciding it was well past time, Cloud snapped a quick picture of the flowers to use for now, until he could find something better. It wasn't that he wanted to forget Tifa, he just didn't like the constant reminder that he'd failed once again.

If anything, despite its short length, their relationship had been one of the best Cloud could remember in a very long time. Tifa had been kind and understanding of his situation. She hadn't tried to force him out of his comfort zone. He'd felt himself hoping that maybe this time things would be different. Of course, in retrospect, he realized that had been silly. Things would never change. Not for him.

"I don't mind you looking, but this _is_ a shop," a woman's voice said, tinged with a hint of playful humor. "You can always buy some of the flowers to take back home to stare at so intently if you'd like."

Cloud was yanked out of his thoughts as he looked over at the young woman who'd appeared behind the counter and had just addressed him. She was wearing a simple, pink dress, that, for some reason, seemed far too large for her. Her brown hair was done up in a single braid that descended just past her waist but left her bangs flowing down over her shoulders.

"I wasn't staring," he eventually responded, unsure of what else to say.

He watched as one corner of her mouth twitched upward in a smile, her emerald eyes twinkling. Those eyes in particular captured him. Cloud had never seen ones so full of life before. And yet... at the same time, there was something strangely familiar lurking in their depths.

"If you say so," she replied, turning away and returning her focus back to the plants.

Cloud moved to look back at his phone for directions, but found his attention instead drawn to the woman as she moved from display to display. He was taken aback by how carefully and gently she treated each of the flowers, as she watered them and trimmed their stems. Almost like a mother looking after her children. Cloud honestly wasn't sure he'd ever seen someone so clearly passionate about what they did for a living.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked, again catching him off guard as he snapped back to reality. "I don't mean to be rude, but it's rather uncanny having a SOLDIER watching me so closely as I tend to my shop. Is… something wrong?"

There was a slight hint of aggression, mixed with something like fear, in her tone, and Cloud realized he was probably scaring her. He wasn't exactly sure why.

"Ex-SOLDIER," Cloud clarified. "Nothing's wrong, sorry for disturbing you," he finished brusquely, turning around to leave.

"I thought SOLDIERs served for life?" he heard her ask from behind him, a note of surprise and confusion clear in her voice.

Cloud glanced back over his shoulder at her. "They do."


	2. Chapter 2

Aerith finished the last drops of her juice before setting the glass down on the counter and staring into its now empty interior, thinking back on the encounter with the strange man from yesterday.

"What's got you all pensive?" Tifa asked, her friend appearing and grabbing the empty glass, placing it in the sink behind her before turning back to Aerith.

"Oh, nothing serious, just thinking about this... weird guy who showed up at my shop yesterday," Aerith explained.

"What, like a creep?" Tifa demanded, a hint of concern entering her voice.

"No, no, nothing like that," Aerith replied quickly, calming her. "He just seemed… lost."

"Well, he clearly had to have been, if he managed to find your stall," Tifa joked, a twinkle in her eye.

Aerith let out an affronted laugh, her mouth dropping open before she leaned forward and playfully punched her friend's shoulder across the counter. "Rude!"

They laughed together for a while, before settling down and enjoying the other's presence. Aerith always felt so calm, so at peace when she could spend time with Tifa like this. She was so thankful she'd ended up meeting her here several years ago. Even when Aerith was having one of her worst days, her friend would always help her get back on her feet. Tifa was like a sister to her.

"I still think you should find a nicer place. It'll help you grow your business, pull in more customers," Tifa said gently, breaking the silence. "Plus I'd worry less about your safety."

Aerith shook her head. "I can't. Even if you ignored the expenses, it would have too large of an impact on my regulars. Some of them are like family, I couldn't ask them to travel to the other side of town just for a flower. Besides, I honestly don't mind it there, and I make enough to get by. Plus it's quiet and cozy, I don't think the flowers would like the hustle and bustle of the main city."

Aerith heard her friend sigh softly in disappointment, but she was relieved when Tifa decided not to press any harder. They'd had this argument several times before, and she knew this wouldn't be the last.

"So, this not-a-creep," Tifa prodded. "Was he hot?"

"Tifa!" Aerith exclaimed, laughing. She could feel her cheeks heating slightly at the question and hated herself for it.

"What, it's just a question. Was he?" Tifa pressed, clearly having fun teasing her.

"I dunno," Aerith answered evasively. "I wasn't looking at him like that. You know I don't do that."

"Come on, it's a simple question!"

"Fine, yes, he was hot, okay?" Aerith answered begrudgingly.

She saw Tifa smile triumphantly at her little victory. "Did he ask for your number?"

Aerith scoffed softly in response. "No, I'm pretty sure he wasn't there for me. He all but ran away as soon as I started talking to him. Not that _that's_ much of a surprise."

She saw Tifa's hand clench tightly, before she stared intently into Aerith's eyes, a stern look on her face. "Don't treat yourself like that, okay?"

Aerith flushed in embarrassment, realizing she'd done it again. "I… yeah, you're right, I'm still working on it," she replied, her eyes briefly dipping down.

"Good," Tifa said happily, smiling. "It's his loss anyway. He'd be lucky to go out with someone as amazing as you."

Aerith smiled back and nodded, but struggled internally to accept what Tifa had said. Deep down, even though she wanted to form that kind of connection with someone, she knew it would never actually happen. Not for someone like her.

"I'm serious," Tifa continued. "You told me you've been feeling lonely lately. We've talked about you dipping your toes in the water before, maybe this is a good chance to try."

"So I should just ask out any random guy who shows up at my flower store?" Aerith asked dryly, raising one of her eyebrows skeptically.

Tifa laughed, shaking her head, a wry smile on her face. "No, of course not. But you could try to get to know them a little better at least. Talk to them a little? Who knows, you might meet someone interesting."

"I suppose…" Aerith grudgingly conceded, not entirely sure she was actually on board with this.

"Look. You know I love you, and I don't want to push you hard on this, but if you never try, nothing is ever going to change…" Tifa said softly, her voice full of earnest compassion as she gently placed her hand on Aerith's.

Aerith nodded in response, unable to reply as she fought back her tears. They sat there like that, together in silence, until she managed to find her voice again. "I… I'll try. Obviously not with the same guy since I doubt I'll ever see him again, but the next time."

"That's all I can ask for," Tifa replied, gently squeezing Aerith's shoulder. "Who knows, maybe you'll end up meeting your soulmate."

* * *

Tifa heard the doorbell ring and felt herself freeze momentarily before she took a deep breath. "Come on, Tif. It's not a big deal, just get this over with, and then it's all behind us," she muttered to herself under her breath as she went to answer the door. She opened it to find Cloud standing on the other side, awkwardly playing with his hands.

"Hey Tifa," he greeted her, his eyes not meeting hers.

"Hey Cloud," she responded, forcing a smile on her face. "Come on in, I think I've found everything, but you'll know best." She tried to keep her face as smooth as possible, hoping he wouldn't be able to read the pain she still felt on seeing him.

It wasn't that she didn't want to see him again, or that she was uncomfortable having him back in her apartment. Tifa was just still coming to terms with falling so hard for someone only to have things end up the way they had. Even though the breakup had been mutual, as she'd told Aerith, that didn't stop it from hurting.

"Sorry to intrude again, I guess I just didn't realize how much of my stuff ended up at your place," Cloud apologized, following her into the apartment and towards the living room.

"This is everything I was able to find," Tifa explained as they arrived, gesturing towards her coffee table and the array of items strewn across it.

Together they looked over the items in silence. While most of the items were mundane, simple things, others had strong memories attached to them. The toothbrush had been the very first item he'd ever left, and she could still remember the warm feeling of happiness she'd felt when she'd first found it in the bathroom. It had been the first sign that Cloud was starting to get comfortable with them being a couple.

The bathrobe folded under it was the first present she'd ever bought for him. She smiled softly to herself, as she remembered how he'd always made fun of her for being an old woman because she'd wear a bathrobe after showering. Then, once she'd bought him one and convinced him to try it, he'd never wanted to stop wearing it.

"Thanks for taking the time to hunt all of this down on your own," Cloud eventually responded, breaking the silence, and pulling Tifa out of her memories. "The only thing I notice missing is my black hoodie, the one with the silver wolf on the back."

Tifa snapped her fingers when she heard this, instantly recognizing the item of clothing he was talking about. "That's right, I think it's still in the closet in my bedroom, let me go find it."

She made her way to the bedroom and into the walk-in closet where she kept all her larger clothes. The hoodie in question wasn't mixed in with her sweatshirts, so she had to take a few moments looking through everything until the flash of silver finally caught her eye. She shook her head in amusement that he'd left it in the middle of her dresses.

As she made her way back into the living room, hoodie in hand, Tifa was surprised to find Cloud waiting for her next to a now empty coffee table. "Oh, you already moved everything to your bike?"

Cloud nodded in confirmation. "Thanks again, for everything Tifa. I'll get out of your hair now, I'm sure it's been difficult enough just having me back here."

When Cloud passed her on the way to the front door, Tifa reached out to place a hand on his shoulder, wanting to reassure him. Just before her fingers actually touched him, however, she caught herself, her arm falling limp at her side. Instead, she held out the hoodie for him to take. "Look Cloud… even though we broke up, I still want you to be happy."

She shifted from foot to foot, biting her lip before continuing. "A romantic relationship didn't work out, but… I'd like to think we could still be friends. If you'd be okay with that?"

Cloud smiled softly back at her, one of his rare, tender moments that had attracted her to him in the first place. His eyes finally met hers for the first time that day as he took the hoodie from her. "Thanks, Tifa, that means a lot to me. I think I'd like that too."

Tifa felt a small sense of relief he felt the same way. "You should stop by Seventh Heaven sometime, I'll treat you to a drink on the house and we can catch up."

"I'll make sure to take you up on that offer," he promised, as she watched him turn and leave.

* * *

Aerith finished the last touches on the bouquet she'd been working on with a happy sigh. The client's request had been very detailed, and she'd risen to the occasion, extremely pleased with the result. She hoped they would think so too. Even though she'd told Tifa things were going well, she desperately needed each and every order to do well.

Stretching and rolling her back to work out the kinks from leaning over for so long, she was surprised to catch sight of the man from a few days ago. Once again, he was leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the street from her flower stall. Except this time, his attention was clearly fixed on her, not the flowers.

Despite the joke Tifa had made about him only finding her because he'd been lost, Aerith had agreed with her. It was very unusual for someone to find her shop by chance, she usually relied on recommendations from happy customers. This time, there was no chance of it being an accident. Even if it had been the first time—which she was now beginning to doubt—it was impossible for it to be a second time.

She felt her guard cautiously rising as she watched the man out of the corner of her eye. There was a can of pepper spray hidden behind the roses, but she had a sinking feeling against a SOLDIER it likely wouldn't help very much. Reminding herself of the conversation she'd had with Tifa, Aerith did her best to try and keep an open mind. As she moved to work on the next arrangement, however, she made sure to keep her eye on him.

She was surprised to see him dressed almost completely in black, causing her to shudder slightly as she imagined how hot and muggy that must be. Aerith was already feeling the heat of the day in her light dress, and she had the added advantage of being in the shade of the building behind her. His clothes did leave his arms bare, but she couldn't imagine that was helping very much.

Her eyes widened in alarm as she watched him softly nod to himself, seeming to reach a decision, before he crossed the street and approached her. Several panicked thoughts rapidly flashed through her mind. She had nowhere to hide. Her shop was just a small wooden stand, situated next to the building behind it. If she tried to call for help, the odds of someone responding in this deserted backstreet were nonexistent. But most pressing of all was the fact he was a SOLDIER, which meant nothing would stop him in the first place.

"I've never seen that type of flower before, what is it?" he asked, stopping a few feet away and gesturing to the display she'd just finished.

Aerith found herself blinking in confusion. This wasn't at all what she'd expected. Then it all made sense. This was his plan to get her to lower her guard, to let him get close to her.

She carefully plucked one of the flowers in question from a separate vase, not wanting to damage the bouquet she'd spent so long perfecting. Aerith lifted it to her nose and inhaled softly, the familiar scent slightly calming her nerves.

"They're lilies, my favorite flower…" she explained hesitantly. "These yellow ones symbolize happiness." Already knowing the answer to the next question, she asked it anyway. "Are you interested in flowers as well?"

He shook his head negatively in response. "I can't say I've ever really paid them much attention."

Aerith froze as she heard this. It was literally the opposite answer she'd been anticipating. She quickly repeated what he'd said over again in her head, positive she must have misheard him. He wasn't interested in flowers? How was he planning to gain her trust if he didn't pretend to express interest in the same things as her? The only other option that flashed through her mind was that this had never been about the flowers in the first place. And that scared her even more.

"Sorry, I mean, they're nice enough, but they're not really my thing," she heard him say, dragging her out of her thoughts.

"What brings you back here then?" she asked, struggling to make sense of what was going on, and trying her best to keep any concern from entering her voice. At the same time, she surreptitiously gauged the distance to the roses and her faint hope of partial safety with the hidden pepper spray.

For some reason he took a few steps backward, putting himself on the edge of the road and the sidewalk. She wasn't sure why he was moving away, but she didn't let it fool her. She heard him mutter something softly, but wasn't able to make out enough words over the distance to understand what he'd said.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. If you're looking for a gift for someone, I could offer some recommendations," she said, remembering Tifa's advice. Aerith thought she saw a flash of pain in his eyes at this, but dismissed it as a trick of the light from the sun suddenly reflecting off a window into his face.

"I said I was worried about your safety and wanted to make sure you were alright. This section of the city is far from the worst, but you should really look into a safer location."

There it was. So that was his plan. Aerith shook her head in disgust, pained at how obvious he was being. Did he seriously think she'd fall for _that_? "You don't even know me," she snapped, tired of putting up with this nonsense.

His cheeks flushed bright red at her reply, clearly embarrassed she'd caught on so quickly before he abruptly turned around and began to walk away. "I'm sorry for wasting your time, I won't bother you again," she heard him say, a faint note of regret in his voice just further proving she'd been right.

Aerith hadn't expected him to give up quite so easily, but it was a welcome relief nonetheless. She made sure to watch him until he vanished around the corner, before settling back down to finish off the latest arrangement.

* * *

Tifa dropped into the seat across from Aerith, glad the morning rush was finally over so she could spend some time with her friend. She'd been acting unusually sullen all morning, and Tifa was determined to find out exactly what had happened to cause this unusual change.

"So… what's gotten you all down this morning?" Tifa asked. "I can't remember the last time I've seen you this upset."

There was a long moment of silence before Aerith finally answered her question. "He was back."

Tifa waited for her to expand on this, but she seemed too lost in her thoughts. "Who?" she prodded.

Aerith blinked, before finally focusing on Tifa. "That guy from the other day, the creep," Aerith said in explanation, a faint note of anger in her voice now.

Tifa leaned back in surprise, her eyes widening slightly in surprise. _She'd_ been the one to call the guy a creep last time. "I thought you said he wasn't a creep…"

"At the time he wasn't, but he came back!"

"I mean… I suppose that's a _bit_ creepy, but he also might have just been interested in you. What did he do?"

"He asked about my lilies…"

Tifa waited for more, but after a few seconds realized that was it. "And… that was a bad thing?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

"He hates flowers!" Aerith shouted, the few remaining customers glancing over at the sudden burst of noise.

"Wait… what? You're all over the place," Tifa said, reaching out to place a hand on Aerith's arm to try and soothe her.

"When I asked if he liked flowers he said no!" Aerith shrugged the hand away and banged her fist onto the table. "Seriously, who does that? Not even trying to pretend like he wasn't there just to try and get into my pants," she spat.

Tifa was pretty confident at this point Aerith had misunderstood what had happened. While she didn't want to completely discount her friend's story, she _did_ want to try and help her realize what had really happened if she could. "Hold on a moment. Was he looking at you like that? Did he do anything aggressive towards you at all?" she asked.

Aerith went silent as she thought about this. Tifa idly scratched one of her nails against a small divot in the table, making a mental note to get it patched up as she waited.

"Not... that I can recall…" Aerith eventually admitted.

"Was he respecting your personal space, or did he push himself on you?"

Tifa was surprised to see Aerith flush at this question. "He… actually stepped away from me at one point," she whispered, no longer looking at Tifa, her head instead angled toward the table.

Tifa let out a soft sigh and placed her hand on Aerith's.

"I overreacted again, didn't I, Tifa?" Aerith asked softly.

"Probably," she confirmed, gently squeezing her hand. "Look, I can't blame you, not after what you went through, but remember what I said about an open mind?"

Aerith nodded, raising her head to look back at Tifa, her eyes slightly wet. "I tried Tif, I did. It's just… it didn't make any sense why he'd be back."

"Sounds like that would have been a good question to ask him," Tifa gently pointed out.

"I did!" Aerith protested.

"Oh? And what was his response?" Tifa asked, genuinely curious. It _was_ strange the man had returned in the first place.

"He… said he was worried about my safety because of the area," Aerith muttered quietly.

Tifa couldn't help but let out a short laugh at this. "Well, that's something we at least agree on." She refrained from pushing the point any further. They'd already had this argument too recently. "It's not all bad, at least. Just take this as a learning experience for next time," she pointed out, trying to sound cheerful.

"Whenever that might be," Aerith snorted, a faint smile on her lips. "That guy's certainly never coming back after yesterday."

"Hey, you know what they say," Tifa replied, chuckling softly. "Third time's the charm."

* * *

_Cloud was running._

_This time it would be different. This time he'd make it._

_He could feel his heart thumping in his chest—pounding against his ribs. His lungs were desperately pulling in as much air as they could, straining to fuel his body._

_He couldn't fail her again._

_There was a blinding flash of light, forcing Cloud to throw up an arm to shield his eyes._

_He stumbled. As he always did. It was never enough._

_The sound of a blade cleaved through the air._

_The sky shattered._

_The earth under him crumbled._

_He fell into the endless abyss, screaming in denial._

Cloud jerked upward in his bed, throwing the tangled sheets off of himself. He struggled to slow his racing heart. To get his breathing back under control.

He thought he'd seen the last of that damn nightmare years ago, but it had been plaguing him for a month now, ever since his second conversation with that paranoid flower woman. Thankfully it wasn't every night, but even once a week was too much. Cloud still didn't understand what he'd done to freak her out so much. At one point, he'd thought she was even going to grab the roses she kept looking at and attack him with them.

He flopped back onto his pillow, his breathing finally calm. He was frustrated to still be so fixated on the encounter from the previous month. She'd been extremely clear she wanted nothing to do with him. Despite that, Cloud knew why he couldn't just let it go.

He'd given up too easily. He closed his eyes and rubbed both of his temples, her exceptionally green eyes still painfully clear in his mind, even after all this time. He'd meant every word he'd said when he told her the location was in a bad area of town. Given her reaction to his presence, what he didn't understand was why she didn't seem to care.

Obviously, it was none of his business in the first place. He knew that was the most likely reason why she'd reacted the way she had, but he couldn't just stand by while someone willfully endangered themself. Not without at least trying in the first place.

Cloud's eyes snapped open as he shifted his legs so he was now sitting on the edge of the bed. He was sick of this. Tired of the endless contemplation. He'd go back, speak his mind, and then leave. At least with that, he wouldn't be stuck with this feeling of failure.

He got to his feet and moved to get dressed. He'd do it today. The sooner the nightmare vanished, the better.

* * *

Aerith woke up to the morning light filtering through the curtains on her window. She blinked sleepily before rubbing her eyes with her hands. Not wanting to get up quite yet, she rolled over onto her left side and stared at the empty half of her bed.

A month had passed since her encounter with the SOLDIER, and in that time, not a single new customer had stopped by. Fortunately, all of her existing customers were still happy and placing orders, allowing her to cover her rent. She knew Tifa was worried about how isolated she always was, but Aerith pointed out it meant there also wasn't anyone showing up to harass her. Tifa usually didn't take that very well, though.

For the briefest moment, barely more than a second, Aerith's mind imagined a spiky yellow-haired head on the pillow next to her, ice-cold eyes boring into her own. She jerked her head backward in surprise, dispelling the illusion. What was wrong with her? They'd only met briefly before she'd driven him off. Why couldn't she stop thinking about him?

A part of her knew it was because she had recognized the look in his eyes. The look that said things were not alright. That they never could be. She knew that look all too well. It stared back at her in the mirror every morning.

She would be lying if she said she wasn't curious about what had put that look in his eyes. She'd never met anyone else with it before. Of course, she knew she'd never get the chance to learn more about what had put it there, not after how their last meeting had gone.

Aerith lightly slapped her cheeks with both hands, clearing her thoughts. It wasn't worth worrying about, and she needed to get going. Just yesterday she'd received a new order from her most important client, and she needed it to be a success. Hopping out of bed, she began her morning ritual to get ready for the long day ahead of her.

As her little shop came into view, Aerith was surprised to notice a figure in all black standing in front of it. She laughed sadly, her mind clearly playing tricks on her. Apparently, this morning hadn't been enough. As she drew closer and saw his face, her steps slowed until she drew to a halt. It was actually him. She was briefly overwhelmed as excitement, fear, and curiosity all battled for control. Aerith took a deep breath, calming herself. She refused to jump to conclusions like she had last time.

Walking into her store, she gave him a brief nod as she passed, noticing he stepped away as she drew near. Aerith set down her bag, taking a deep breath before turning around to face him. There was that familiar look, burned into the back of his eyes, plain as day. "You're back," she said simply in greeting.

He nodded in response, not saying anything as his attention shifted between her and the surrounding area.

"I… never expected to see you again," she admitted. "Not after the way I treated you last time. Sorry about that, by the way."

She saw one corner of his mouth slightly twitch upward as he focused his attention on her. Aerith took a small step back as their eyes met. The full weight of the sorrow in them was overwhelming. It felt like she'd been buried alive.

"I don't blame you," he finally said, quietly. "I can understand why a stranger showing up multiple times could be alarming—here, in particular. Especially considering what I used to be…"

She waited after he trailed off, to see if he'd go on, but he didn't. He just continued watching her, a curious look entering his eyes. She'd never actually imagined what another encounter with him would be like since it had seemed so unlikely. If she had, she didn't think she would have imagined anything like this. "So, what brings you back?"

"Now that I'm here, it feels really stupid," he muttered.

It was Aerith's turn to smile softly in amusement.

"I… just wanted to make sure you were alright," he continued. "You have to know this area isn't the safest, considering the way you reacted last time."

For whatever reason she couldn't place, this familiar argument felt completely different coming from him than from Tifa.

"You sound just like my friend," she commented wryly. "I know you're right, and I appreciate your concern, but… this place just fits me too well."

He looked confused by this but just shrugged his shoulders in response. "I've done what I could. I don't want to take any more of your time. I'll let you get back to your flowers," he said, turning and moving to leave.

"Wait, you never told me your name!" she called out after him. "I'm Aerith."

He paused for a moment at the edge of the street before he replied, not turning around. "I'm Cloud," he said simply before he continued to walk away.

Before she even realized what she was doing, Aerith found herself rushing out into the street after him. Even as she reached out to catch his hand, a part of her was screaming to just let him go, but she shoved it down as her fingers brushed his. She wanted to know more about that look.

He jerked his hand away at the brief contact, but she wasn't offended since she was sure she'd just startled him. She'd startled herself. Cloud had stopped though, turning back to look at her, surprise etched on his face.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, taking a step back to put more distance between them.

Aerith immediately regretted her impulsive decision, not even sure what her plan was in the first place. Her brain raced to come up with an idea, one abruptly clicking into place.

"How would you feel about getting breakfast together?" she asked. "I want to apologize for the way I treated you before, and thank you for your concern over a random stranger."

She watched as a storm of emotions flickered across Cloud's face, too quickly for her to be able to catch them all. One that stuck out, in particular, was fear, which didn't seem to make any sense. Why would he be afraid of her? His head tilted to the side before she saw him nod softly. "That sounds fine, when?"

Aerith quickly thought through her plans for the week. "Does the day after tomorrow work for you?"

Cloud slowly nodded. "Should I meet you here?"

She lightly stepped backward, her head bouncing in confirmation with her movement. "See you then!" she called out, waving goodbye as he turned to leave. For once, her excitement managed to drown out the ever-present fear. She was doing it. Hopefully, it would go well.


	3. Chapter 3

Cloud took the seat across from Aerith. He couldn't help wonder why he'd agreed to this, and if the whole thing wasn't a mistake. They'd walked over together from her stall in silence, which was perfectly fine with Cloud since he was never the talkative type in the first place. As he glanced around the café she'd brought them to, he had to admit it was quite nice. They were seated at a table out front, under an awning, and he noticed each table had a small vase with a familiar lily inside.

"Are these yours?" he asked, gesturing to the flower between them.

"They are!" she replied happily, almost bouncing in her chair. He could have sworn he even saw a sparkle in her eyes. "I love this place, and when I offered to help with the decorations, they were gracious enough to accept."

Any additional conversation was blocked as a waiter arrived and asked for their orders. Cloud requested a coffee and the French toast special, while Aerith ordered a glass of apple juice and an omelet.

"Not a coffee person?" Cloud asked in surprise, as the waiter took their menus and walked away.

Aerith shook her head. "No, I've never really liked the idea of relying on a drink to wake me up in the morning," she explained. "Not that there's anything wrong with people who do!" she hurried to finish.

Cloud chuckled and raised his hand to show he hadn't taken any offense. "I completely understand where you're coming from. Some mornings, before I've had my first cup, I regret having ever started in the first place. But then, after the first sip…" he trailed off, his eyes closing in bliss. "Mmmmmhhh."

He heard Aerith's laughter, tinkling softly like a wind chime, and opened his eyes to see hers shining brightly. He found himself once again captured by those emerald eyes, one of the main reasons why he'd decided to return to her stall in the first place. Green eyes weren't particularly rare, but her's, in particular, reminded him so much of the forests outside the city he loved to escape to. Cloud noticed her cheeks starting to redden, and realized he was staring, quickly dropping his eyes to look at the table instead.

"So," he heard her say before the silence had a chance to become uncomfortable. "If you don't mind talking about it, I'd be very interested to hear about what you do for a living. I've never heard of anyone like you."

He hesitated for a moment, thankful she at least hadn't said the name of his old job out loud. No matter what he tried to do, he'd never been able to throw off the air of a SOLDIER. Unlike Aerith, most people just seemed to assume he couldn't be one, presumably because it didn't make any sense.

"My old job paid very well," Cloud explained cautiously. "I mostly live off the savings it provided, and then occasionally take on private security requests to help supplement it."

He could see several new questions budding in her eyes at his cryptic response, and was thankful to see their waiter arriving with a tray. As their food and drinks arrived, any further conversation was halted while they each dove into their meals. For several minutes, the only sounds from their table was the clink of silverware and pleased noises of delight.

Unsure which direction to steer their conversation in once they'd finished eating, Cloud's eye caught on the flower in the middle of the table and decided to go with that. It seemed like a safe bet considering how excited she'd been when he first pointed them out.

"Where do you get your flowers from?" he asked, noting as he sipped from his coffee it was almost empty and wondering if he should order another. "I don't think I've ever seen them growing inside the city." He was happy to see her eyes light up again. Not only because it changed the topic from SOLDIER, but also because it temporarily banished that uncannily familiar look of sadness buried away.

"You're right, flowers don't grow in the city. That's probably why I'm even able to make a living like I do, since they're considered luxury items here."

"Wait, you don't mean…"

Aerith laughed slightly as her eyes nervously shifted from his before she nodded her head. "Yeah, I gather them from outside Midgar most mornings."

Cloud barely refrained from hitting the table with his fist, not wanting to scare her. Was this woman actually insane? Sure, the immediate outskirts of the city weren't that much more dangerous than inside the walls, but that didn't make it _safe_. He struggled for a moment on how to tactfully mention this, before giving up and just saying what came to mind.

"I don't want to lecture you or anything, but that's… not a very good idea," he pointed out, wincing as her eyes hardened and she scowled slightly.

"While I appreciate your concern, nothing has happened in the years I've been doing this so far. Besides, if I stop then my business will immediately collapse. Is that what you want?"

"What? No! I just…"

He watched her shake her head slightly before she rubbed her eyes with both hands. "No, I'm sorry. I know you meant well," she interrupted him gently, the earlier heat now gone from her voice. "I've just had this conversation multiple times before. I shouldn't be taking my frustrations out on you."

"That friend you mentioned the other day?" he asked hesitantly.

Aerith sighed before finishing the last of her remaining juice. "Yeah. I have a feeling if the two of you ever met you'd get along incredibly well," she replied, an amused look flashing across her face.

Before Cloud could reply, Aerith's eyes widened suddenly as she covered her mouth with her hand. He raised an eyebrow curiously, tilting his head slightly to see if she'd explain, but to no avail. "I'm too curious not to ask about that. What just happened?" he prompted.

Aerith's cheeks reddened slightly, her eyes darting away from his. "It's nothing, just a stupid idea."

"No, please, now I'm dying to hear it."

She seemed to flush an even brighter red at this. "I… I just thought—since you said you did private security…"

Cloud felt his own eyes widening now.

"See, I told you it was dumb. There's no way I'd even be able to afford your rates."

He sat there for a moment, unsure of how to respond. She wasn't wrong. From what he'd seen of her business, she'd never be able to cover what he usually charged. Despite that, he couldn't help but feel a small pang of regret he wouldn't be able to help her.

"I knew I shouldn't have…"

"I'll think about it," he interrupted, startling both of them. Slightly embarrassed, Cloud signaled to the waiter they were ready for the check, handing over his card before she could protest.

"Cloud, I had a really great time this morning. Thanks for agreeing to this," Aerith said, smiling brightly, as they both got to their feet.

He didn't take offense at the note of surprise in her voice as she spoke. He was just as surprised how good of a time he'd had this morning. While he wasn't entirely sure what he'd been expecting, he knew it hadn't been anything like this. The meal had been far more relaxing than he'd anticipated, and it had been nice to get to know her a little better.

"I enjoyed it as well," he admitted.

"Would you…" she stopped, biting her lip hesitantly.

Cloud gave her an encouraging nod, interested to hear what she had to say.

"Would you be interested in hanging out sometime this weekend? Just walking around the city or something, not a date or anything," she hurried to finish.

"Not a date?" he asked, one eyebrow lifted in confusion. It certainly sounded like a date to him, but he wasn't going to press her on it—not if it made her feel more comfortable.

"Not a date," she echoed, a hint of amusement in her voice.

Cloud surprised himself by nodding in agreement.

* * *

"It's totally a date," Tifa said dryly, looking at Aerith with amused skepticism.

She watched her friend flush slightly at her playful taunt before Aerith responded. "No! It's just two people, who happen to enjoy each other's company, hanging out and getting to know each other better."

"Which is the definition of a date!" Tifa exclaimed, laughing. She looked on in amusement as Aerith grumbled to herself, fidgeting in her seat, but didn't press the argument any further. Tifa finished the drink she'd been making and served it to the customer on the other end of the bar, before walking back to join her friend.

"I'm really glad to see you getting out there though," she said, resuming the conversation from earlier. "Although I'm surprised you actually ran into him again."

Aerith smiled softly before responding. "I am too, but I'm so glad I did. Both to apologize, but also because, at least so far, he seems... nice."

Tifa playfully pretended to be extremely surprised, covering her mouth with one hand as she stared at Aerith with wide-open eyes. "Aerith calling a guy _nice_? Now I know the world is ending."

"You're being such a bully today," Aerith grumbled, looking down at the counter.

She could tell from the way Aerith was looking up at her through her lashes with a grin struggling to break free that she wasn't serious. Tifa winked at her, and Aerith's composure broke, the two of them giggling together for a moment before they calmed down.

"So, does this _nice_ guy have a name then?" Tifa asked.

"Of course. I think I'm going to take a page out of your book and not tell you for now. We're not even dating yet, anyway, so it feels a bit presumptuous."

"That's fair enough," Tifa muttered, pouting slightly. "I'm just worried I ended up pushing you towards this guy a bit too hard. Showing up three times…"

Aerith's face instantly fell. "You think I'm not worried about that exact thing?" she whispered, barely loud enough for Tifa to hear.

Tifa instantly regretted what she'd said, cursing herself internally for being so thoughtless. Aerith was already doing so well stepping outside her comfort zone, the last thing she needed to hear was any form of pessimism. She quickly slipped through the hatch in the counter to cross over to her friend's side, before hugging her tightly from behind.

"I'm sorry, that was a really careless thing to say," she whispered softly. "Forgive me?"

She felt Aerith's body trembling against hers before her friend's head nodded gently next to her own. Tifa let out a soft sigh of relief, squeezing Aerith tightly before letting her go and sitting down next to her.

"I know you're just trying to look out for me, and I appreciate it, I really do," Aerith said softly after she'd finished calming down. "But I also need you to trust me, or else I'm going to start to doubt myself, and then I'll never get out from under this."

Tifa grabbed Aerith's hands and squeezed them encouragingly. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to discourage you. I'm so relieved to see you like this. You seem so much happier now than a month ago, so much more confidant, and that's what really matters."

"Thanks, Tifa," she replied, rubbing the tears from her eyes.

"I'm sure you're going to have a great time on your date tomorrow," Tifa responded, reaching over to squeeze Aerith's shoulder.

Aerith glared playfully back and she raised both of her hands in submission. "Fine, fine, a great time on your not-a-date," she conceded, laughing together with her friend as the earlier tension completely evaporated.

* * *

Aerith had met up with Cloud at her flower shop, and together they'd made their way past the café from the other day to the main commercial district of the sector. Along the way, she'd briefly considered asking if he wanted to hold hands, but reminded herself she was the one who'd said this wasn't a date. Ultimately, she decided she wasn't comfortable enough to even ask—much less actually do it—and left it alone.

"I didn't really plan anything for today. Unless there's something you have in mind, I guess we can just wander around and see what looks interesting?" she announced when they came to a stop in the middle of the busy street, groups of shoppers passing by on all sides.

Cloud looked surprised for a moment before he shrugged in response. "I'm fine with whatever you want to see," he replied, as they slowly made their way down the street.

The first store that caught Aerith's eye was her favorite lingerie store. She didn't even consider going inside, not even for a moment. There was no way she'd be comfortable bringing Cloud along for that, assuming he was even willing to. Instead, she moved past it to another clothes store, her eyebrows raising in surprise as Cloud stepped forward and opened the door for her.

Aerith tilted her head in thanks and walked past him into the store. She didn't really have anything in mind, but as she was wandering through the clearance section, found a red jacket that instantly caught her eye. She quickly tried it on and thought it was a good fit, before turning to Cloud to ask what he thought. When she saw his open-mouthed look of appreciation, though, she instantly decided to buy it before he had a chance to say anything.

"I think it looks great on you but isn't it a bit out of season?"

Aerith shrugged in response. "That's fine, it's on sale because of that. Plus, now I'll be set once it does get a bit colder."

Quite happy with her purchase, Aerith spent a while longer looking around. She was happy to see Cloud taking a look at a few things on his own, which made her feel less like she was just dragging him around. Eventually, she suggested they take a break from shopping to get something to eat. As they walked around looking for options, her attention was caught by an ice cream stand, and she rushed over, Cloud following behind her.

"I'd like a mint chocolate chip please," Aerith ordered, after looking over the wide range of flavors. "What about you Cloud?"

He leaned over her shoulder to examine the flavor options for a moment before pointing to one of them. "I'll have the salted caramel."

Unlike with breakfast the other day, this time Aerith was ready. Before he could hand over his card to pay, she'd already passed hers over to the stall owner. He smiled in amusement as she looked at him in victory. After receiving their respective flavors in paper cups, they walked over to a bench by a fountain and sat down, a bit of space between them.

Aerith let out a sound of pure happiness as she took her first bite with the little plastic spoon. "Oh, this is _so_ good. There's nothing better than ice cream on a hot summer day."

Cloud nodded in silent agreement as he wolfed down his ice cream, before abruptly pausing and putting a hand to his forehead, wincing in pain.

"Slow down there mister!" she laughed. "Before you inhale the rest of that, can I try a bite? I've never had that flavor before." She realized after she asked that this might have been a little too forward. She was used to sharing her ice cream with Tifa, but it was too late to take back what she'd said.

"Go for it," Cloud replied, holding his cup out as he continued to massage his head.

Relieved he didn't seem upset by the request, Aerith took a small bite since the idea of salt in ice cream seemed bizarre to her. Her eyes widened in shock as the flavor spread through her mouth. She took another, larger, scoop before she even realized what she was doing.

"Wait, this is incredible!" she exclaimed, going for a third bite before Cloud could pull it away.

He laughed in response, smiling at her reaction, his brain freeze seeming to have passed. "It was an old friend's favorite flavor. I had almost the exact same reaction as you when I first tried it. Here, there's not much left, but we can swap, I don't mind."

Aerith gladly accepted the trade, and together they finished in silence. Once they'd disposed of their trash, she turned to him. "Thanks for putting up with all the shopping earlier. I feel like I've been the one directing things so far, is there anywhere you'd like to visit?" she asked.

* * *

Cloud only half-heard her question. He was still too busy freaking out about what had just happened. He wasn't upset about the flavor swap—the mint ice cream had actually been quite refreshing—but rather the fact they'd traded in the first place. Realizing she was still waiting on a response, he quickly tried to think of an idea.

"I think we're actually pretty close to a weapon store I often visit. I'm friends with the owner, it would be great to stop by and say hello if you don't mind."

Aerith didn't look particularly interested in this idea, but he was relieved to see her nod her head in agreement, an amused look settling on her face. "Of course, I don't mind at all, let's go check it out."

Cloud led the way a few streets over before they arrived at a small, surprisingly cozy looking, store. The sign out front read "Cid's Weapons" and, as they entered the store, Cloud greeted the man sitting behind the counter with a friendly wave.

"Cloud!" The man exclaimed, looking up from the paper he was reading as a small bell announced their arrival. "You're early, still need a day or two more before I'll be completely done with the tune-up."

Cloud laughed and put up a hand to forestall him. "That's fine Cid, I'm not here to try and rush you. We were just in the area and I thought I'd check-in, say hi, see how the repairs are going."

"Of course, of course. Your friend will have to stay in the shop though, not a whole lot of room in the garage at the moment," Cid explained apologetically.

He felt a twinge of guilt at this, but when he turned his head to look back at Aerith she was smiling at him encouragingly. "I'm fine waiting, you do whatever it is you're here for, I'll just take a look around."

"Be careful!" Cid called out as he and Cloud left through a door in the back. "Some of them are very sharp!"

* * *

Aerith wasn't interested enough to care about touching any of the weapons, but she still appreciated Cid's warning. As she wandered through the store, she was surprised to see how large of a selection there was. The largest section was dedicated to swords, but there was also a wide variety of polearms, fist weapons, shurikens, and even some guns.

The section that caught her attention the most, however, was the staffs. As she stood in front of one particularly elegant one, she wondered if it would be a good fit for her. Laughing to herself, she dismissed the idea as quickly as it had come. She had no use for a weapon, and couldn't imagine a reason why she'd ever need one.

"… looking great, can't wait until you're all done," she heard Cloud finish, as the two men returned through the door they'd left from.

"I know, I know. I'll make sure to call the moment I'm finished," Cid replied, shaking his head ruefully as he waved farewell.

"What was that all about?" she asked curiously as they stepped back into the street.

"Cid's main job is running the store, but he also has a side job of vehicle repair and maintenance. He's finishing up the last touches on my bike right now," Cloud explained. "I'm a little impatient, though, because I really miss the freedom it provides."

"Oh, that's surprisingly fitting actually. I'd been wondering why—omigosh it's so cute!" Aerith exclaimed, interrupting her train of thought as she rushed over to get a closer look at the kitten in the window of the pet store they'd just walked by.

She heard Cloud laugh behind her, but her entire attention was focused on the cute, feline, fluff ball pawing at the glass.

"It _is_ pretty adorable, isn't it?" Cloud observed over her shoulder.

She turned her head in shock, looking at Cloud in surprise. "Wait, you're a cat person? I had you marked as a dog person."

Cloud chucked. "I get that a lot for some reason. I get along fine with dogs, but if I had to pick between them, cats easily win, no question."

"I'd love to have a pet cat someday," Aerith said wistfully, turning back to the window.

After several minutes of watching the kittens play together, they reluctantly pulled themselves away and continued down the street. "It's gotten pretty late," she observed, looking up at the sky. "Should we call it a day and head back to my store?"

"I guess you're right, time really flew by so quickly today," Cloud replied, a faint note of regret in his voice.

She was relieved to hear Cloud seemed to have had as good a time as she had. While she hadn't expected the day to go poorly, she also hadn't thought it would go quite as well as she felt it had. Part of her was worried it had just been so long since she'd put herself out there and she was desperate for any attention, but Aerith pushed it aside, curious to see where this could go.

"We both know that this was absolutely not a date," she said, her eyes glowing with amusement. "But how would you feel about going on an actual date sometime, maybe this weekend?" she asked, more serious now.

She was slightly concerned to see Cloud stumble as she finished, trying to catch himself but clearly failing. "There's… something I should probably tell you before we decide to officially date," he said hesitantly, looking away from her.

"Is this where you tell me you've killed all your former lovers?" Aerith joked, trying to relax the sudden tension with an over-the-top line so he'd know she wasn't serious.

Regret overwhelmed her as soon as the words left her mouth. They'd come out far harsher than she'd intended. As she turned her head to see his reaction, she felt a stabbing pain shoot through her chest as she saw his face.

"I would _never_ hurt someone I was in a relationship with," Cloud snapped, his eyes full of hurt and rage.

Aerith staggered backward in shock, one hand rising to cover her mouth, her eyes wide. Her heart was racing. Had she really managed to ruin everything so quickly? "Cloud, I'm sorry, it was a stupid joke."

He took a deep breath, composing himself before he eventually responded. "No, I overreacted, I'm sorry. I should have been able to tell you weren't serious. I'm… not very good at banter."

She shook her head firmly in denial. "No, you don't need to apologize, it was a tasteless joke and I was out of line. I'm sorry."

He nodded in response, and they continued walking down the street, the mood from earlier now all but gone. As the silence between them stretched on, Aerith felt like she'd irrevocably damaged their relationship. Unable to take the silence any longer, and afraid of what might happen if they just left it at this, she decided to speak up.

"What did you want to say?" she asked softly, desperately hoping for a response. For a moment she thought he wasn't going to reply—sighing in relief when he finally spoke.

"I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I'm not the best with relationships," Cloud began softly. "To be more accurate, I'm afraid of them. Of letting someone get close to me. I don't handle physical contact well, for instance. Even small things, like hand-holding. From past experience, my lack of physical intimacy usually just puts too much strain on relationships."

Aerith's first feeling as she digested this was one of immediate relief she hadn't pushed to hold his hand. Beyond that, she could actually recognize a lot of what he was saying about himself reflected within her. Fear had ruled her life for as long as she could remember. To the point where she'd ended up just locking herself away. In that sense, Cloud was already miles ahead of her.

She finally understood the source of the familiar look always lurking in the depths of his eyes. Just like her, it was the fear of opening up to someone else. While it was reassuring to get a better understanding of him, Aerith was forced to recognize that because of this, anything between them was going to be even more challenging than she'd imagined.

"How do _you_ feel about us dating?" she eventually asked, quietly, realizing they'd been standing in silence for several minutes.

"Scared," Cloud whispered in response, a slight twitch of his cheeks indicating his amusement at his own reply.

She couldn't help but chuckle, his blunt honesty always so refreshing. "I… I think that actually makes me _less_ scared," she admitted, looking shyly over at him.

"Well, I suppose I'm glad my fear reassures you then," he remarked, now openly smiling at her.

They both laughed together at this, the entire situation too silly to take seriously any longer. As they slowly caught their breath, Aerith was relieved the mood seemed to have mostly recovered.

"So… this weekend then?" she asked.

"This weekend," Cloud confirmed.

* * *

Tifa greeted Cloud with a nod as he sat down at the bar, her hands busy making a drink for another customer. "Lemme serve this and I'll be right back for your order."

Once she'd delivered the drink to the woman who'd ordered it, she walked back to lean against the bar opposite Cloud. She was still a little surprised to see him sitting there. She'd never expected when she made the offer to him just over a month ago, that he'd actually show up, especially not multiple times a week. While their romantic relationship certainly hadn't worked out, they'd remained fast friends—and even better drinking partners. She was glad the breakup hadn't kept them apart, it made her happy.

"Hello? You in there Tifa?"

She felt her face heat up as she realized Cloud had been trying to get her attention for a while. Shaking her head to clear it, her eyes moving to meet his. "Sorry, what can I get you?"

"Let's go with the house specialty tonight."

"One Cosmo Canyon, coming right up!" She made the order with practiced ease, sliding the red drink over to Cloud once it was complete. He caught it and lifted it to his mouth, taking a sip before closing his eyes and letting out a sigh of contentment.

"Long day?" she asked, pouring the same drink for herself. "Cosmo usually means you're feeling stressed."

Cloud let out a short laugh, his eyes opening to meet hers. "I'm that predictable, huh?"

"Let's just go with months of experience," she replied, winking as she took a sip of her drink.

They relaxed together, Cloud leaning against the bar with his head propped up on his elbow, while Tifa leaned against the far wall. "Wanna talk about it?" she asked, breaking the silence as Cloud finished his drink.

"Maybe? Not sure you want to listen."

She felt her brow raise at this and moved to pour Cloud a second drink. "Now you're just making me curious."

He nodded his thanks for the second Cosmo and took a sip, before raising his head to meet her eyes. "Do I deserve to be happy?"

Tifa felt like she'd been punched in the stomach by the abrupt question, nearly spitting her drink out. "Where did _that_ come from?" she asked in concern, wiping her lips with a spare napkin.

"Sorry," Cloud muttered. "It's just…" he shook his head, apparently struggling to find the right words. "Look, I broke your heart, right? After doing something like that, what right do I have to be happy?"

Tifa took a large swig from her drink, finishing it off. Maybe he'd been right, this was getting a bit heavier than she'd expected. She didn't want to leave him like this, though, not after everything they'd been through. She poured herself a second drink as well. Usually, she stuck to just one, but it felt like she'd need another tonight.

"Cloud…" she took a deep breath, thinking for a moment to compose her thoughts before going on. "Look, you have to stop beating yourself up over us. I just want you to be happy. I think it's important to realize we weren't a good fit for each other. I'm fiery and impulsive, and that didn't work for us. We were like oil and water," she paused to take a sip to wet her throat. "I don't really understand where this is coming from, though, it's almost like…"

She trailed off as it hit her. Cloud had met someone new. And of course, he didn't want to just come out and say it, given their past history. She appreciated that much, at least, even if it hurt to think of him with another woman.

"I don't want to keep repeating the same mistakes," Cloud said in frustration. "I just feel like I should cut this off before it falls apart again."

"You have to stop blaming yourself, Cloud," Tifa replied, surprising herself with how forcefully she'd said it. "You can't keep running forever."

Cloud's face trembled—his eyes wide—and he leaned backward in his chair, staring at her for a moment with a look Tifa couldn't quite place. "No, you're right," he eventually whispered.

He drained the last remnants of his drink and set the empty glass on the counter. "Thanks for the advice, Tifa. And sorry for bothering you with it in the first place."

She smiled back at him, gently shaking her head. "There's nothing to apologize for. What kind of friend would I be if I wasn't there to offer support when you need it?"

Cloud nodded distractedly, seemingly deep in thought, before his eyes cleared and they met Tifa's. "I've got to go, but thanks for the conversation and drinks, as always."

"Always a pleasure!" Tifa called out, waving farewell as Cloud turned to leave.

She sighed softly to herself as she watched him walk out. Hopefully, she'd been able to provide him with the answer he'd been looking for. Wishing him the best of luck, Tifa prepared to close down the bar for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's honestly kind of crazy posting this now after having spent two months refining this story. I hope it connects with at least a few of you. I know there's a lot of foreshadowing up to this point, the next batch of three chapters will reveal what happened with each of them in the past. It's a pretty huge Hurt sandwich, with some nice Comfort right in the middle.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Content Warning:** Initially this section was entirely Aerith's backstory, but post 1st draft, this got shuffled a bit earlier and there's now a new scene leading up to her story. The warning is primarily for the third section here, but since the new initial scene refers to her past, the very beginning of this chapter has some uncomfortable moments.
> 
> I want to be very clear that there is absolutely no non-con in this story. However, Aerith's backstory in the third section does involve adult grooming. For any readers with triggers around content like that, *please* feel free to instead skip to the endnotes, where I've included a summary that will allow you to continue reading the story with all the information you need without having to read the details.

Aerith sighed happily as she finished the last touches of the final order for the day. Wiping the back of her hand against her forehead, she looked up at the crimson-orange sky. It was late, much later than she usually worked, but she'd been on a roll, and really wanted to get everything wrapped up. She'd worry about delivering the order tomorrow—it was far too late for that now—which unfortunately meant she'd have to bring it back home with her.

Part of her wished she had a more formalized store, so she'd be able to leave things behind without worrying about someone stealing them. She carefully placed the flower arrangements into a carrying box, and her personal belongings into a backpack. As she finished packing up and prepared to leave, she noticed in surprise that a group of three men was approaching her.

_Strange for customers so late in the—_

Aerith froze as they drew close enough for her to make out their faces.

"See! I told you it was her!" one of them called out, a look of excitement on his face.

The second man nodded. "Impossible to forget a face like that."

"Alright, alright, I admit I was wrong. Glad to be, though," the third said, laughing.

A chill ran down her spine. She didn't know how they'd found her, but she'd recognize their faces anywhere. Just like they knew her. They were _his_ friends after all. Aerith heard the box she'd just picked up hit the ground. A part of her was concerned about the flowers inside, but the thought vanished as quickly as it had arrived.

"How's it going, Aerith?" the first one asked, the three of them stopping in the middle of the street.

Dozens of thoughts flew through her mind. Running, screaming for help, using her phone to call Tifa, but she was paralyzed with fear, unable to act on any of them. She just stood there, her mind spinning, but nothing clicking into place.

"Please just leave me alone," she whispered.

"Oh, don't be like that. We're only here for some fun."

"That's right, everyone knows how much _fun_ you like to have."

"Yeah, just a quick little ride…"

Aerith was about to look up and scream at them to leave, when a loud, crashing noise suddenly rang out into the night air, causing her to flinch.

* * *

Cloud wasn't entirely sure what he was doing. He knew some of that was likely thanks to the two drinks, although he wasn't drunk by any means. Just nicely buzzed. He shook his head gently to clear it. Tifa knew how to make a damn good drink.

What he _should_ have been doing was walking home. What he was _actually_ doing was walking to Aerith's flower stand. He knew it was silly. It was far too late for her to still be there, but he justified it as only a minor detour on his way home—which was mostly true.

He hadn't wanted to bring Aerith up with Tifa, but he had a feeling she'd still caught on to what he was talking about. It probably wasn't too surprising in the end. Hopefully it hadn't ended up hurting Tifa even more, since that was the last thing he wanted. She'd become such a good friend to him since their breakup.

As Cloud rounded the corner, he was surprised to see that not only was Aerith still at her store, she was actually talking with a group of customers. Not wanting to disturb her, he moved to turn away but stopped in alarm when he saw her drop the box she'd been carrying.

Before he realized what he was doing, he found himself charging down the street. Despite his speed, his leather boots made almost no noise on the pavement of the street. As he drew closer, he heard one of the men say something about a quick ride. Not needing to hear anything else, his fist greeted the side of the man's head.

The impact was incredibly satisfying. One of his best punches ever, Cloud thought. The man went flying several feet, coming to an abrupt halt as his body slammed into a parked car and collapsed to the ground. He didn't _think_ the man was dead, but he also didn't care if he was.

"What the fuck?" one of the other men screamed, turning towards Cloud.

The back of Cloud's other fist met the man's face, dropping him to the ground instantly, a fountain of blood gushing from his shattered nose. The third man fled, and Cloud let him go, turning his attention immediately to Aerith.

"Are you alright?" he asked, dropping to a knee in front of her. He reached out to place a hand on her shoulder, but let it fall before actually touching her.

Aerith didn't say anything. She only shook her head quickly back and forth, and Cloud felt a lance of pain shoot through his chest at the sight. Not knowing what else to do, he crouched there, the two parts of himself waging an internal battle on if he should wrap his arms around her or not. Eventually, Aerith got to her feet, staggering just before she was fully upright. He thrust out his arm, and she caught it with one hand, steadying herself.

"Thanks, Cloud," she whispered, the sound of raw despair in her voice only further wrenching the twisting hurt inside him.

"Did they do anything before I got here?" he asked, trying not to be demanding, but struggling to control his rage. Her tear-streaked face made him want to turn and pummel her assaulters even harder, but both of the men were still unconscious.

"No," Aerith replied, rubbing the tears from her eyes. "No, they probably wouldn't have anyways, but thank you for stopping them."

He looked at her in confusion. "Wait, you know them?"

"It's a long story. I don't want to talk about it here. I just want to go home."

"Do… you want any help?"

Aerith laughed softly. "I can walk fine, but… if you could carry the flowers that would help. Just, be careful with them, please."

Cloud nodded and gently lifted the box she indicated. He was surprised to find it as heavy as it was. On second thought, he realized it made sense, given each arrangement had its own vase. Peeking through the slits of the container, he was relieved to see none of them seemed to have broken when they'd hit the ground.

Together they set out, Cloud following slightly behind her and to the side since he had no idea where she lived. They walked several blocks in silence, before arriving at a surprisingly nice apartment building, closer to the center of the city than where she worked. He assumed the majority of her income went into affording this, and said a silent thank you to her nameless friend whom he assumed had pushed her to live somewhere safer than she worked.

"Well, I'll leave—"

"I'd really like to not be alone right now," Aerith said, interrupting him as she opened the door. She paused, looking back at him.

Cloud stopped in surprise at the sorrow in her voice, his hand still on the box he'd lowered to the ground. "Oh, of course."

Aerith's stomach decided it didn't want to be left out of the conversation as it let out a loud rumble, causing her to flush and Cloud to chuckle.

"How about I grab us some food quickly?" he suggested. "I haven't had dinner yet either."

"Thanks, I don't feel like making anything, so that would be really helpful," she replied, the soft smile on her face relieving some of Cloud's tension.

She picked up the box and carried it inside, Cloud waiting for the door to close before he rushed off to find something for them to eat.

* * *

Aerith was still shaken from the encounter a few hours ago. She'd never expected to run into anyone from college again, especially not people who'd been so directly involved in what had happened. She was angry with herself for how she'd fallen apart, but also extremely thankful Cloud had arrived when he did. As she'd told him, she didn't think they would have actually done anything, but eight years had passed since then, and she was glad they hadn't had a chance to prove her wrong.

Cloud had returned with pizza. Not normally something she'd eat for dinner, but it was fast and easy, and she was forced to admit after three pieces it had been really good. They'd finished eating, mostly in silence, before she'd told him she wanted to explain what had happened. How she'd known those men. It hadn't been an easy decision to make, but after what he'd done to help her, she felt like he deserved to know. Hopefully, by sharing it, it might help dull her pain.

They'd moved to her living room, and were now seated on either side of her sofa—Aerith with one leg tucked under her and slightly angled away from Cloud. She knew this was going to be hard and emotional, and she didn't want him to easily be able to see her face. Despite her hesitation to tell him about this—she'd only ever told Tifa before—she pushed on.

"This is… not a happy story," she began, taking a deep breath to prepare herself after they'd sat in silence for a few minutes. "I'm not sure how much you overheard before you arrived, but those three were closely involved with what happened to me back in college."

Aerith paused to gather herself before continuing. "I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, though. Before we jump into that, you'll need a bit of backstory first.

"College for me was largely an extension of high school, and by that I mean I focused almost entirely on my studies over my social life. Sometimes, it felt like my roommates were more interested in trying to find their soulmate than studying, but I didn't date anyone during my first three years. I told myself it never really bothered me, that I never felt excluded or left out. In reality, sometimes when I was alone in my dorm room, I'd feel a little lonely and wonder what I was missing out on. Everything changed midway through my last year. It was a few weeks after we'd returned from the winter holidays when I first met Kadaj."

She had to pause here for a moment—just saying his name enough to cause her to slightly lose her already weak composure. She quickly sniffed her nose and rapidly blinked her eyes to clear them, before going on.

"He was another Biology major, so I'd seen him in a lot of my classes, but we'd never had any prior interaction. One day, he decided to sit next to me in class, something that only stood out since he usually sat in the back. Once class was over, he told me he was really struggling with schoolwork. Apparently, he'd barely managed to pass organic chemistry last semester. He said everyone in our class knew I was the top student, and asked if I'd be willing to help him study.

"I was a little embarrassed to hear this, but at the same time, it was really nice to receive that acknowledgment of all my hard work. I told him I'd be willing to help, but made sure to be very clear I was only interested in studying. He pouted jokingly, reassuring me his only goal was to improve his grades."

Aerith took a moment to gather herself once more. Even though it had been eight years ago, talking about this was causing the unhealed wounds to reopen. She risked a quick glance over at Cloud from the corner of her eye, but the only thing she could see on his face was concern and curiosity. Her eyes returned to her hands in her lap, nervously rubbing them together before continuing.

"We met up in the library for the next few nights. From the first few sessions, it was immediately clear he really needed all the help he could get. After that, though, he caught up incredibly quickly, saying it was all thanks to me. I didn't pay much attention to it at the time, but that should have been the first sign something was wrong.

"By the end of the week, we'd started sitting much closer together than before, and on the last day, before we went our separate ways, he hugged me farewell. Even though the original goal had been to just study, I wasn't upset with the growing change since he was always extremely careful to make sure I wasn't uncomfortable.

"The library closed early on the weekends, which meant we couldn't continue studying there. He said we'd never be able to focus with the amount of noise his roommates made, so that was also off the table. Ultimately, I ended up offering my dorm, since I knew my roommate would be there with us, and she'd also be studying. The first day was mostly the same as when we were in the library, but the second day ended very differently. Instead of just hugging, we kissed each other goodbye."

She took a deep breath and wiped a stray tear from her cheek before pushing onward.

"By the middle of the next week, things had reached the point where we were doing very little actual studying. I knew it was exactly the opposite of what I'd agreed to, but it felt so nice to have contact. To have someone interested in me. Then, everything escalated even further the first night that weekend."

Aerith had to stop once again, bracing herself for the worst part. She used her anger at what Kadaj had done to help fight against the crushing sorrow.

"It turned out my roommate was spending the weekend with her own boyfriend, so the two of us were alone in my dorm. We'd started studying as normal, but it was quickly forgotten as our hands began to wander. Eventually, we were both down to only our underwear. Shortly after that, he told me he wanted me.

"I was surprised. It felt like this had happened so quickly, but I knew I didn't have any experience with these things. He'd come to mean so much to me over the short time we'd spent together. The stories I'd heard from my friends and roommates over the years seemed to indicate this wasn't all that uncommon. Despite my initial hesitation, I said yes.

"I remember how excited he looked—like he'd won the lottery—and how happy it made me, realizing I could make someone feel like that. I told him I didn't have any condoms, but he reassured me he always kept one in his wallet. He rolled on top of me and… flopped around, like a dying fish. I didn't really feel much of anything, but I could tell when he reached his peak. It was over quickly.

"He rolled off and promptly fell asleep next to me. My initial reaction was confusion. That was it? That was what people got all excited about? I fell asleep next to him, wondering if I'd done something wrong. If it was my fault I hadn't enjoyed it. I didn't want to wake him to ask, so I decided to wait until the morning, figuring we could maybe try again so it was better for me.

"But I never even got that chance," Aerith whispered softly, fighting with all her might to hold back the tears that threatened to overwhelm her. Despite her best efforts, her voice still cracked as she continued. "When I woke up the next morning, he was gone. He'd left a note on my desk: Thanks for a great time, you weren't half bad."

She took a deep breath, wiping her eyes with her handkerchief before using it to blow her nose. She was proud of herself for not having completely broken down by this point—like she had when she'd told all of this to Tifa. Feeling the tears straining to break free, she struggled on with all of her might, denying them their release.

The worst part was passed, but she knew there was still more to tell—for Cloud to understand about the three from earlier. She didn't dare look over at him yet. Not until it was over and done with. She hoped his silence only indicated he knew there was more to come, and not something else.

"Afterwards, I discovered what had happened from overhearing gossip. That he'd bragged to his group of friends he could get any girl to sleep with him in two weeks. That they'd placed a bet with him to prove it, and I'd been specifically picked since they knew I'd never dated anyone. I don't know if that was supposed to make it easier or more difficult.

"Of course, it didn't end there. The gossip spread through our class like wildfire, shifting the farther it got from the source until it warped into horrible rumors. That I was a whore. A slut who would spread her legs for anyone."

Aerith could feel the tears running down her cheeks now. As strong as she wanted to be, she wasn't able to hold them back any longer. She ignored them, and continued, knowing if she stopped now she'd never be able to finish.

"From that point on, men would either stay well away, wanting nothing to do with me, or else aggressively come on to me, saying they'd be more than happy to give me what I wanted. Ultimately, it got to the point where if I wasn't in class, or getting food at the cafeteria, I locked myself away in my room to hide from it all.

"When my roommate found out what had happened, she said I should tell our professors that he'd raped me. As much as I wanted to strike back at him, I couldn't do that. If I'd known what his plan was, I never would have said yes. But I hadn't. I'd trusted him and wanted to be together with him. And he shattered that trust.

"So yeah, that's my story. Pretty pathetic, huh?" Aerith finished, letting out a short, sad laugh, full of self-loathing.

When Cloud didn't respond after a few seconds she felt her heart sink, instantly wondering if this had been a mistake. Her tears continued to flow freely as she glanced over, bracing herself for the expression of disgust she feared to find.

It wasn't that at all.

Cloud's face was a mask of rage, so full of raw hatred she felt herself flinch back, her tears forgotten in an instant. She could tell his anger wasn't directed at her—he was staring off unseeingly into the distance—but she jumped as she noticed his right hand. It was clenched shut, the tendons on his wrist taut and bulging from the strength he was using. The part that had caught her attention, however, was the slow drip of blood from his hand onto the sofa.

She leapt to her feet, rushing to her bathroom to grab her first aid kit. Cloud was still sitting there, unmoved as she returned to the living room. Dropping to her knees in front of him, she set the first aid kit on the sofa next to him and quickly preparing everything she needed to treat his wound. But when she went to try and unwrap his hand to get access to the injury, his grip didn't relax.

"Cloud, please, you're bleeding, let me help you," she begged, horrified by what he was doing to himself.

He was completely unresponsive to her plea, seeming unable to even hear what she'd said. So she did the only thing she could think of to get him to snap out of it, she kissed him quickly on the cheek. She understood it was wrong—knowing how he felt about physical intimacy—but she _had_ to get him to stop. It was more of a peck than anything, but Cloud's eyes shot wide open as he was yanked back into reality. To her immense relief, his hand finally loosened from its death grip. She quickly grabbed a cloth from the first aid kit and began to clean up the blood.

Aerith winced as she gradually revealed the damage. His nails had shredded his palm. There were multiple cuts, presumably from each time his grip had increased. She was a little surprised he didn't even flinch as she applied an antiseptic to the wounds, and wondered if that was because of his SOLDIER training. Finishing her treatment by gently wrapping a bandage around his hand several times, Aerith was thankful to see that the bleeding had dramatically slowed by this point.

"I'm sorry I ruined your sofa," he murmured, startling her.

"Don't be silly, it's just a sofa, I'm more worried about you. I… Are you okay?"

Cloud's head slowly shifted to look directly at her, the undiluted sorrow in his eyes causing her to immediately tear up again.

"You say you're the pathetic one, but here I am getting comforted when I should be the one comforting you. I… I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to have someone you trusted so completely do that to you." His voice cracked as he continued. "What he did is so utterly vile it makes me physically ill. I am so, so, sorry you had to go through that nightmare."

Aerith was only able to quickly nod her head, her tears now flowing freely, sobbing as she finally released all the pent up emotion that had been building since her story had begun. She hated she'd thought—even if only for a moment—that Cloud would have judged her for what had happened. But none of that mattered anymore. He'd understood, and supported her. Her heart soared as his uninjured hand gently rested on top of her own.

* * *

Cloud was still furious, even though two days had passed since he'd learned about Aerith's past. He never imagined he could be so angry at someone he'd never even met. Now that he knew everything, all of her earlier actions made complete sense—especially why his second visit to her stand had alarmed her so much.

They'd sat together a while longer in silence that night, her sobs breaking his heart each time another one broke free. He'd wanted to hold her tightly. Tell her he'd never let anything like that happen to her again. But he'd been too afraid to actually do anything. All he could do was hold her hand tightly, and hope it was enough.

He hated that weakness in him, always lurking there under the surface. Cloud was amazed at how strong Aerith was. That she'd been able to tell him anything of what had happened to her. He knew he didn't have anywhere near that kind of strength.

Eventually, her tears had stopped and she'd thanked him again. He wasn't sure he deserved it, feeling like he hadn't really done anything. He'd said his goodbyes, reassuring her that of course, their date for the weekend was still on.

He already had several plans for that, thanks to a discovery he'd made earlier today, now that Cid had finished his work on Fenrir. He was determined to make it stand out—to show Aerith just how important she was—despite the fact a part of him was still terrified to let her get any closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Summary:**
> 
> Three of Kadaj's friends accost Aerith at her flower stand. While their assault remains verbal, it still brings her past up and Aerith is consumed by despair. Cloud arrives on the scene after his drink with Tifa, and while he initially thinks the three are customers, he quickly realizes that isn't true. He charges into action, obliterating one of the men, and taking out another while the third flees. He tries to calm Aerith, but she's shaken, and he ends up walking her back to her apartment. She tells Cloud she doesn't want to be alone right now, and he offers to grab them some food. After they eat, she tells him what happened to her.
> 
> Aerith met Kadaj in her final year of college. They start dating after roughly a week and a half and end up sleeping together a few days later. However, while Kadaj enjoys the experience and falls asleep immediately after, Aerith doesn't end up feeling much of anything, mostly because it's over so quickly. She gives Kadaj the benefit of the doubt and falls asleep, thinking of trying again in the morning, only to find that he's gone when she wakes up. He leaves a particularly despicable note, and she later learns through gossip that he'd made a bet with his friends he could get her to sleep with him within two weeks. The gossip transforms into horrible rumors, and Aerith ends up sequestering herself for the remainder of her degree.
> 
> Cloud is enraged to hear what happened to her and ends up shredding the palm of his right hand since his fist is so tightly clenched. She rushes to grab a first aid kit to try and treat the wound, but Cloud is lost in his rage and doesn't respond to any of her attempts to get him to loosen his grip. Ultimately she ends up kissing his cheek, which is enough to shock him out of it and allows her to bandage his hand. Cloud expresses his disgust at what Kadaj did, and offers his condolences, placing his uninjured hand on hers.
> 
> A few days later, Cloud struggles with his own past, wishing he'd been better able to comfort her. He's also impressed with the strength Aerith showed by telling him about hers. He makes plans for an incredible date to show her just how important she is.


	5. Chapter 5

Aerith couldn't stop staring at the massive wolf Cloud had ridden up on, which was now parked on the street in front of her apartment. Of course, it wasn't an _actual_ wolf. As she looked at the motorcycle, however, she couldn't get the image out of her head.

Cloud chuckled as he finished what he was doing on the other side of the bike, standing up and walking over to stand next to her. "You can't seem to take your eyes off Fenrir."

"Fenrir… is that its name? It's just so… huge."

He laughed harder at this. "It's certainly one of a kind. Cid's the only one I trust to run maintenance on it." Running his hand over the front of the bike, he smiled wistfully. "Cid was one of the two who played a huge role in its construction," Cloud explained, a strange note of pain entering his voice.

Recognizing the look on his face, Aerith decided to not poke for more details—despite being curious who the other person was. "And the plan for today is to head outside the city on it?" she asked, somewhat skeptically. She'd never ridden on a motorcycle before, and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little nervous about the prospect.

"Yup," Cloud replied confidently, his voice regaining its normal warmth. "I actually found a place just yesterday. As soon as I saw it, I knew it would be perfect. You'll want to make sure to bring your jacket. It's pretty far from the city, and once the sun sets, it'll get pretty cold out there," he warned.

"Are we camping?" she asked in surprise, slightly nervous as she moved to grab the jacket she'd bought the other day from the coat rack inside the door.

"That was my initial plan, but if you'd rather not, we can always head back to the city."

Aerith considered this for a moment. It was still hard for her to trust, even after everything Cloud had done for her. Eventually, she shook her head in response. "No… no, it's fine. I think I'd like to try it, as long as it doesn't suddenly start raining out of nowhere."

"I've actually got a pair of tents packed away in Fenrir's storage, just in case, but I think we'll be fine."

She watched as Cloud bent down and popped open a hidden compartment on the side of the bike. He reached in and pulled out a helmet that mirrored his own, before turning and offering it to her. "Here, you'll want to wear this to be safe. I've been driving for years and never come close to an accident, though, so there's no reason to worry."

Aerith accepted the helmet and was able to slip it over her head easily enough. She was glad she always wore her hair in a braid so the wind wouldn't end up tangling it. The strap to fasten it, however, proved to be much more of a struggle.

"Cloud, how does this strap work?" she asked after a few failed attempts.

"Oh, you have to slide it through both the metal hoops first, then bring it back around between them, through the larger one. That should let you cinch it until it's comfortable," he explained.

"And are we going to be able to talk to each other during the trip, or will it be too hard to hear anything?" she asked, as she finally got the helmet to fasten thanks to Cloud's instruction.

"If you reach inside the right side of your helmet you'll find a button and a little wheel. The button will turn on your helmet's intercom and then the wheel controls the volume."

Aerith fiddled around with the helmet for a moment before she found what Cloud had described. "This feels very fancy," she commented, pressing the button. "Can you hear me?"

"Perfectly," she heard Cloud say into her ear, a little quiet, so she turned the volume up. "We should be good to go, hop on behind me once you're ready."

She nervously eyed the bike once more, feeling her heart racing slightly as she walked over and placed one foot on the passenger footrest. Placing one hand on Cloud's shoulder briefly, she swung her other leg over the bike and settled onto the seat behind him. Aerith was so used to walking, she worried being perched like this while moving at the speed of a car would be too much to handle.

"Make sure to hold on tight and then try and keep your weight centered, I'll handle the rest," Cloud said.

She yelped in surprise as Cloud started up the engine, the noise catching her off guard in conjunction with the feeling of the bike coming alive under her.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, sorry," she apologized, her face heating up. "It just took me by surprise, I'm good."

"I hope," she muttered softly under her breath.

"You'll be fine, trust me," Cloud replied, and she blushed even harder as she realized the intercom had still picked her up.

As they rolled out into the street to start their journey, Aerith tightened her grip around Cloud's chest. Resting the side of her head against his back, she hoped she'd get more used to this quickly. She was a little surprised Cloud was okay with having her so closely pressed to him, but he had been the one to suggest this. A part of her she'd never noticed before stirred in excitement at the feeling of his back against her, and she focused on that instead of how quickly the ground was moving.

* * *

Cloud struggled not to react as Aerith's death grip made him realize just how close together they were. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he'd been in physical contact with anyone for such a long period of time—much less a woman he was gradually growing more and more attracted to. Cloud realized he'd been so eager to show her the location he'd found, he hadn't given enough thought to how closely pressed together they'd be during the ride.

He was fairly confident she was able to tell how fast his heart was beating, given that one of her hands was gripping his shirt right over it. Hopefully, that wasn't making her more nervous. Aerith certainly wasn't helping the situation either, her grip tightening every time they took a turn or he accelerated to pass a car. Cloud was distinctly aware of her breasts in particular, as they repeatedly made their presence known against his back with each squeeze.

Eventually, once they'd left the confines of the city, and the traffic all but vanished, her grip relaxed and he could tell she was beginning to actually enjoy the experience. As the last signs of Midgar faded behind them, Aerith spoke up, breaking the silence that had lasted since they'd left. "So, I actually did some research since the other day, and it turns out the fear you mentioned has a name: philophobia."

Cloud was shocked to hear this. Not that she'd looked into it, but that there was an actual word to represent his fears. "I… It never even crossed my mind this was something other people dealt with. I assumed it was a unique weirdness I had. I guess I assumed that it wasn't… important enough to be an official thing, you know?"

Aerith's head nodded against his back. "I don't think it's terribly common, but as I looked into it more, some aspects of it were uncomfortably familiar. I can certainly relate to it myself," she said quietly.

Cloud fully understood what she meant, after what she'd told him the other night. He realized, with some surprise, how much it hurt him to hear her admit that. His own pain was a familiar companion at this point, but hearing someone else going through the same thing was so much worse.

"In any case," she went on, "now we both know more about it, I'm hopeful we can work together to, if not overcome it, at least learn to manage it."

Her arms squeezed around him again, this time in the form of a hug. And, for a very brief moment, Cloud felt himself relax slightly in her arms—actually enjoying the physical presence of another person for the first time in years. The sensation ended as quickly as it had arrived, but Cloud found himself hopeful, for the first time he could remember, that maybe this bond forming between them could last.

"Yeah… yeah that sounds promising! Thanks for letting me know, I really appreciate it," he replied, surprising himself with how much he meant it.

As they continued driving through the countryside into the late afternoon, Cloud felt Aerith growing more and more relaxed behind him. Eventually, she was no longer leaning against his back and mostly using her thighs to keep herself in place, her hands resting on his waist. He was surprised just how much he missed having her pressed against him. Finally, they reached the rest stop that marked the end of their journey and Cloud pulled into it, parking the bike.

After Aerith hopped off the back and started stretching her legs out, Cloud got to work unpacking the various things he'd prepared for the evening. Since the sky was still clear, he decided to leave the tents packed away. Worst-case scenario, he'd run back and pick them up, but he hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"Now what?" she asked him curiously, walking over to join him.

"Now we've got a short hike up to there," Cloud replied, pointing with his head to the wooded hill next to the road. "It should only take us about half an hour, tops, while carrying all this."

"And what's waiting for us up there?" she asked, bending down to grab a bundle of blankets.

Cloud picked up the cooler he'd packed that was full of food, careful not to jostle it in the process. "You're going to have to wait and see," he responded, one corner of his mouth rising.

Aerith pouted slightly at this but didn't press him any further. Together, they set off up the gradual slope, Cloud leading the way through the trees, making sure the makeshift path was clear for her.

"So how'd you find this place? It feels like we're in the middle of nowhere," he heard her ask from behind him.

"Pure luck," he said, laughing as he admitted it. "I've always been more at home outside the city than trapped inside its concrete walls. I try to get out whenever I can, which—thanks to Fenrir—isn't usually a problem." He glanced back to make sure she was doing alright and was pleased to see her still right on his tail.

"Yesterday, I happened to stop here and decided to take a look around. Once I'd climbed up here, I knew it was the perfect place for our date," he finished, pausing to kick aside a fallen tree branch before looking back once again. He was caught off guard when he saw how happy she looked. As they drew closer to the peak of the hill, the slope increased to the point where they focused on walking, a comfortable silence filling the woods.

"Oh Cloud!" she exclaimed in joy, as they passed through the last of the trees into a wide-open clearing at the top of the hill.

He'd hoped she would enjoy it, but was shocked to see actual tears in her eyes as she covered her mouth with one hand. The clearing was an explosion of color, blanketed in a massive variety of different flowers, but overwhelmingly dominated by the yellow lilies Aerith had introduced him to.

"You like it?" he asked, hopefully, the answer already obvious on her face.

She only responded by vigorously nodding her head, still apparently too overcome with emotion to be able to speak.

Wanting to give her some time and space, Cloud gently extracted the blankets from her arms. He carefully made his way through the flowers until he came to a large open area near the middle of the clearing, which was mostly grass and dirt. He spread the largest of the blankets out for them to sit on while tossing the other to the side for later.

As he was preparing to open the cooler and start laying out dinner, Aerith made her way over to join him, sitting down across from him. Her eyes were red, but the tears were gone, and she was smiling brightly.

"Thank you, Cloud. So much. I...," she paused, seeming unsure of what to say. "This has already been such an incredible day."

Cloud softly smiled back, her mood too infectious to resist. "I'm glad you've enjoyed it so far. Hopefully, the food won't let you down."

He pulled out the salad on the top first. It was an arugula base, covered in a generous helping of crumbled blue cheese, candied walnuts, bacon bits, and fresh strawberries. He drizzled a light raspberry vinaigrette over it before gently tossing it and setting the bowl down on the blanket. Next, he brought out the main course, pesto chicken kabobs, with a variety of grilled vegetables between each piece of chicken. Lastly, from the chilled section of the cooler, he pulled out a bottle of champagne, which he expertly uncorked, before pouring them each a glass.

"Dinner is served, madam," he announced, giving Aerith a seated bow.

"Cloud, this is incredible, did you make all of this yourself?!"

"No," he admitted, chuckling. "The salad was easy enough to throw together, but I bought the kabobs already prepared, if I _had_ made them, you'd probably be equally shocked, but for all the wrong reasons."

"I'm sure that's not true," she said in amusement, serving herself a large portion of the salad first.

Cloud held his breath as she took her first bite, but the low noise of appreciation she made along with the look of contentment on her face, caused him to let it out in relief. He served himself a smaller portion of the salad and grabbed a kabob. "I'm pretty sure the only thing I've been able to cook and not ruin were military rations, and those are made to be indestructible in the first place."

Aerith laughed at this as she continued to eat her salad, taking an occasional sip of her champagne. "That was back when you were still a SOLDIER?" she hesitantly asked, after finishing the last bite.

Cloud felt himself stiffen as he went to pull a piece of chicken off his kabob. He'd been the one to bring the subject up, however inadvertently, so he answered once he'd finished chewing. "Yeah, up until four years ago that was the core of my existence," he answered, leaving it at that.

He could see her processing this information—trying to place the date to what she knew of that time—but Cloud wasn't surprised at the frustration and confusion he saw on her face as she failed to make any connections. The truth of that day had been buried deep. He was one of only a handful of people still alive who knew what had happened. And as comfortable as he was getting with Aerith, he wasn't ready to tell her more about it. Not yet.

Together, they finished eating in silence—Cloud thankful it was more respectful than awkward. Hoping to lighten the mood, he reached back into the frozen section of the cooler, looking over at Aerith. "Still have some room for dessert?"

Her eyebrows rose at this. "You even brought dessert?!"

"Just a bit of salted caramel ice cream," he said, grinning, holding a small container in one hand and offering Aerith a spoon with the other.

He laughed softly as he watched her attack the ice cream, sneaking his own bites between hers, their spoons occasionally clinking together by accident, causing them both to giggle. As they finished off the dessert, the sun passed behind the horizon, casting the sky into a beautiful array of reds and oranges. Cloud took a few minutes to pack everything back into the cooler, before sitting down next to Aerith to enjoy the remainder of the sunset.

As the last of the color bled from the sky, Aerith's hand gently came down to rest on his, and he instinctively jerked it away, regretting his action even as it happened, but unable to stop it.

"Sorry," she apologized before he was able to. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I'll try to be better about the whole touching thing."

He sighed in frustration, not at her, but with himself. "You shouldn't be apologizing for that, I know it's a normal thing for people to do. I'll... try to work on it."

He shifted on the blanket slightly, moving so he was sitting behind her with their backs touching. "I know it's not much, but I think this is the most I can offer right now." Hesitantly, he reached back and gently placed one of his hands over hers.

He felt her head shake from side to side before she nestled it into his shoulder. "No, this is fine. I'm happy with whatever you're comfortable with."

Cloud was surprised to note just how comfortable he actually was right now. His best guess was it had to do with how closely they'd been pressed together earlier, which had been far more intimate than now. He'd missed this, he realized—how relaxing it was.

"So tell me more about you, from the time before SOLDIER. I want to know all about little Cloud."

He grunted in amusement, taken slightly off guard by the question. "Not really sure what to say to that, I feel like I had a pretty boring time growing up. I was born in Kalm, both of my parents died while I was very young so I don't remember them well."

He thought for a moment before continuing. "I do remember always getting in trouble as a kid, though, especially for cutting class in middle school."

Aerith laughed at this, causing him to smile before he went on. "Kalm was too small to have a high school, so I ended up moving to Midgar at that point. I remember being shocked at how big the city was. My new class alone was larger than the entire population of Kalm.

"I suppose I was a bit of a delinquent in high school. I'd like to blame it on being distracted by exploring the city, but really I was never that interested in classes. I ended up barely graduating, somehow, but knew I was done with getting an education. I decided to enroll in the military, which is how I eventually ended up in SOLDIER. And that's pretty much my past in a nutshell."

"I wonder if we would have hung out in high school if we'd gone to the same one," Aerith mused.

She shivered against his back, and he realized her jacket wasn't enough to keep her warm as the temperature continued to drop. "I'm getting up quickly," he warned her. He waited until he felt her weight shift off of him, before standing up so she wouldn't topple backward. Cloud grabbed the spare blanket from where he'd left it, before returning and draping it over Aerith.

"Awww, such a gentleman," she teased. "Thanks, Cloud."

He thought she was smiling up at him, but by this point, without the light of the moon, it was hard to be able to tell. "Not a problem," he said, returning to his position behind her, happy to not flinch as she nestled up against him once more.

"Are you sure you don't need some as well?" Aerith asked, concern clear in her voice. "I'm not really sure how we'd be able to share in this position, but I'm sure we could figure something out."

Cloud lightly shook his head in response. "Nah, I'm fine. Part of the whole SOLDIER thing. We're trained to endure extreme temperatures," he explained. "Now it's your turn, I want to hear about your life growing up too."

"I'm not sure mine's all that interesting either," she laughed. "I was born and raised in Midgar, so I've always been used to the city. My dad passed away while I was a child, but I still have a few faint memories of him. My mom's still alive and well, she lives in Sector Five and is retired now.

"Unlike you, I like to think I was a model student. And, as I already mentioned, while my grades were always great, my social life suffered for it. I never really had a lot of friends, and I never dated in high school, since I was so focused on my classes and getting into a good college.

"You… already know what happened there," she said, hesitating, for a moment before going on. "Ultimately, I graduated with my Biology degree. Once I started looking for jobs, I realized I had no idea what I wanted to do with it. I got an offer to work for Shinra, but I've never really been a fan of that company so I turned them down. In the end, I decided to try and start a business of my own, and that's how I started selling flowers."

Cloud struggled not to react as she said that cursed name. He could taste blood in his mouth and realized he'd accidentally bitten his lip. Ignoring it, he focused on the feeling of her behind him. At least she'd been smart enough to stay well away. He wished he had as well.

The cold night air was filled with only the sounds of the cicadas as Aerith finished. Cloud felt himself relaxing slightly, the rhythmic chirping of the insects calming his taut nerves. A cry of pure joy from Aerith stilled them momentarily, and he felt her back shift against his.

"Cloud, look!" she exclaimed. "You can see the stars so clearly now! It's so beautiful…"

Cloud looked up, but with the way they were sitting, he was only able to see a portion of the sky. Aerith seemed to also realize this, scooting away from him before lying down on her back. He decided to mirror her, lying down so their heads were next to each other with their bodies lying in opposite directions.

"Look, you can see the cactuar," he said, pointing out the constellation in question.

"And there's the chocobo!" Aerith observed happily.

Together, they pointed out all the constellations they could find. Cloud was filled with satisfaction that the final aspect of his plan had worked out so perfectly—Aerith seemed to be enjoying it as much as he'd hoped she would.

After they'd run out of constellations and were enjoying the view, a question popped into Cloud's head. "If you could go anywhere in the world you wanted, where would you go?"

"Hmmmm, that's a good question…" Aerith replied, thoughtfully. "A lot of places come to mind, but I've always loved the pictures I've seen of Gold Saucer." He could barely make out the outline of her head as he saw her nod to herself. "Yeah, I guess I'll go with that. What about you?"

"Oh… I can't come up with a specific location, I think I'd be happy anywhere I went with you," he replied, unthinkingly, only realizing what he'd said after it left his lips. Cloud felt the blood rush to his face, thankful for the near-total darkness at this point for concealing his embarrassment.

"That's so sweet of you," Aerith eventually responded, her voice thick with an emotion Cloud couldn't fully place.

Cloud wanted to melt into the ground in embarrassment. He couldn't believe he'd actually said that. After considering saying something else, he instead decided to leave it be. Hopefully, he hadn't upset her.

Aerith yawned, and his body followed suit, the excitement of the day winding down. Together, they fell asleep under the stars, Cloud more calm and relaxed than in years.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No content warning for Cloud's backstory, just advance notice it's going to get _**crushingly sad**_. It should be pretty obvious, so I'll just be clear about it: the Minor Character Death tag is for this chapter. Because there is a death, there's some inevitable violence, but I've done my best to limit it since it's really not the focus here. I also made sure to add Canon Typical Violence as a tag, apologies it wasn't originally there.

A week had passed since the hilltop date. They'd been on two more dates since then, and while both of them had been great, Cloud had felt more uncomfortable and awkward than normal. It wasn't at all related to the dates themselves, but he was worried it might have been coming off that way.

No, his discomfort had to do with his past, and how guilty he felt from keeping it a secret from her, despite her courage to tell him about her own. Afraid of unintentionally damaging their growing relationship, Cloud had come to a decision. It was time for him to stop hiding. Time to take a step forward. Time to tell Aerith everything.

Now that the moment had arrived, however, he felt his heart racing. They'd just finished eating homemade lasagna Aerith had made and brought over to his apartment. Cloud had thought it was delicious, but his nervousness over what was to come had kept the conversation over dinner sparse. Once the meal had finished, they moved to his main room, each seated in their own chair, spaced a couple of feet apart. The sun was close to setting, but still provided enough light Cloud hadn't turned on any lamps yet.

"This is a story I've never told anyone else. As I mentioned before, everything I'm about to tell you happened roughly four years ago. We'd be here all night if I told you the full story, so instead, I'll give you the rundown of what led up to one particular day, and then we'll go from there."

He watched Aerith nod encouragingly, a gentle smile on her lips as she listened to him. She was leaning back, seemingly relaxed in her chair, although Cloud thought he could see a faint tension running through her entire body.

"This was just before the tensions with Wutai had broken out into open war. I'd been dispatched to defend a border outpost on the outskirts of Rocket Town with a platoon of soldiers under my command. Additionally, I'd been authorized to hire some mercenaries, a small group of three I'd worked with in the past and knew well."

Cloud felt his palms begin to sweat, and he idly rubbed his hands together to try and calm his nerves. Just thinking about Avalanche was painful.

"The troops were worried. Reports suggested Wutai had nearly twice our numbers, but I wasn't overly concerned about being outnumbered. Thanks to my SOLDIER training, I was comfortable taking on half a platoon by myself, and working together, the members of Avalanche were almost my equal."

He closed his eyes as he continued talking, the memories still fresh, washing over him despite the years as if it had been just yesterday.

********************

" _Hey there SOLDIER boy, how's it looking?" Jessie asked cheerfully, walking up to join Cloud at the edge of the observation post at the top of the base. She bumped her shoulder against his, before slipping one arm around his waist in a partial hug._

_They looked out over the view together. The outpost was located in the middle of a large clearing, with a roughly four hundred foot radius, completely enclosed in on all sides by a dense forest._

" _They're moving," Cloud replied, unconsciously placing a hand on her back and moving it in gentle circles._

_Jessie stiffened slightly against him as she heard this, immediately alert. He smiled softly to himself, loving how she could shift from playful to serious so quickly. He raised his other arm and pointed to the tree line, slightly off to the right._

" _The trees and undergrowth there have been moving for a while now, I imagine they're waiting for the sun to rise a bit higher so we'll be blinded by it when they attack."_

_He saw her glance at the recently risen sun, her eyes flickering as she ran the calculations in her head. "We've got about an hour till they attack then, assuming you're correct." Jessie tilted her head to smile at him. "Except you're always right about these things, aren't you?" she teased, lightly elbowing him in the side._

_Cloud's lips curled upward at her verbal jab, and he turned his attention away from the forest to look into her eyes. "Once the fighting starts I want you to stick with Biggs and Wedge, okay? None of your crazy, solo heroics today please."_

_Jessie took a step away from him and put a hand over her mouth in mock outrage, cocking her head to one side, her eyes twinkling. "Just what exactly are you implying there, mister?" she asked roguishly. "Are you saying that I can't protect myself? That I need you big, strong men to keep me safe?"_

_Cloud was smiling widely at this point, unable to contain his amusement any longer. "We both know_ that _certainly isn't true," he remarked, laughing._ _He forced himself to be serious before carrying on. "I'm just… nervous. I feel like HQ was hiding something about this mission. Be careful, all right? I don't want you getting hurt."_

_Jessie's forehead pinched slightly, a sign he recognized of her being actually annoyed before she abruptly launched herself at him._

_Cloud was caught off guard by the sudden assault, allowing her to easily tackle him and end up sitting on his waist as his back hit the ground, her eyes gleaming in triumph. "I'm not a doll to be placed on a shelf and admired, Cloud. I can take care of myself."_

_His heart was beating rapidly as Jessie leaned in much closer, her breath brushing against his lips. "When we're like this is the only time I've ever known you, of all people, to be nervous," she whispered._

_Cloud closed his eyes and parted his lips, more than willing to take his mind off the upcoming mission—if only for a moment._

" _Bro, I don't think now's a good time to be bothering them," Wedge's voice said from the stairs that led down to the interior of the base._

 _Jessie jumped off him in a flash, smoothing out her clothes as she turned to Wedge. "You know_ just _how to ruin the mood a girl's worked so hard on, don't you?" she asked him, her amused tone indicating she was mostly messing around._

" _Well, if we were walking in on you in the bedroom maybe we'd be at fault. Can't blame us for your inability to keep your hands off each other in the middle of a mission, though," Biggs pointed out, one eyebrow raised in amusement, as he joined Wedge at the top of the stairs._

_Cloud saw Jessie's cheeks redden at this, his face warming up as well. He hopped to his feet and dusted himself off, before clearing his throat and addressing the two men. "How are the troops holding up?"_

_Biggs frowned, the mood between the four of them now serious as they fell into familiar preparation before a mission. "That's actually why we came to find you," he explained. "They're scared, Cloud. They know we're outnumbered, and while they certainly trust you from past operations, they don't know us."_

_Cloud sighed, not surprised to hear this. There had been rumblings of discontent the whole journey here, and he couldn't entirely blame the troops for their low morale. "I'll go take care of it. You three stay up here and keep an eye on Wutai, I don't want them taking us by surprise if I'm wrong about their plan."_

_The three of them nodded in response, Jessie additionally winking at him and blowing him a kiss, mouthing the words "Sorry, maybe later" before moving off with Biggs and Wedge._

_Cloud smiled and shook his head ruefully as he made his way down the stairs. It certainly would have been nice to have had a moment to fool around with her, but there would be plenty of time for that later, once the mission had been wrapped up._ _As he entered the mess hall where the troops were finishing up their morning meal, all of the soldiers turned to face him and saluted. "At ease," he told them, waving for them to carry on._

_While they resumed cleaning up, Cloud addressed them. "We've got about thirty minutes left before the enemy is going to begin their assault. I know you're worried about their numbers, but we've overcome hurdles like this in the past, right?"_

_The soldiers responded with a variety of affirmations, some looking more concerned than others, but none denying what he'd said._

_Cloud nodded back at them confidently. "Then know that I trust Avalanche with my life. They've already saved it multiple times by this point," he said with a laugh. "With them fighting alongside us, I have no fear we'll be the victors by the day's end."_

_The soldiers cheered loudly at this, the mood noticeably better than when he'd first walked in. Cloud mentally thanked Jessie for the speech practice she'd given him, knowing that without her, he never would have been able to pull this off._

" _I just wish the Commander were here instead," he heard one soldier remark to the man next to him._

_He frowned at this, but didn't want to publicly rebuke the soldier right before battle. "I know several of you have served under Commander Sephiroth in the past. Something more pressing demanded his attention, but do know he gave this mission his blessing and I'll be reporting all of your accomplishments directly to him."_

_This statement really captured the soldiers' attention, and another resounding cheer went up. Cloud felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to find Biggs behind him. "They're here?" he asked the man quietly._

_Biggs nodded in reply. "Yeah, and thankfully it seems like Wutai is still on board with not wanting to involve Materia in combat. Jessie said she couldn't spot a single imbued weapon."_

_Cloud sighed softly in relief at this. He was the only one on their side even capable of using Materia. If Wutai had reached the point where they were going to break the unspoken agreement to not use them in battle, then this mission likely would have been over before the fighting even started._

" _Well, that's a relief at least. I'm counting on the three of you to keep things under control up there."_

_Biggs dipped his head, before turning and running back up the stairs._

" _To arms!" Cloud called out. "Get to your positions!"_

 _The soldiers hurriedly, but efficiently, gathered their weapons and filed out of the room, gunners moving past him up to the roof, while the foot soldiers made their way to the main entrance._ _Heading out to the front lines, Cloud blinked and threw up a hand to shield his eyes from the light as he emerged outside, the sun now over the tree line and directly in their eyes as he'd predicted. "This is going to suck…" he muttered under his breath._

" _Alright, you know what to do," Cloud began, addressing the waiting soldiers. "Fight together, don't let yourselves be isolated. They may outnumber us, but we trump them when it comes to skill. Remember that we've got cover from above; make sure to use that to your advantage by drawing the enemy out and providing our gunners with a clear shot. And don't lose faith, we're going to be the ones celebrating at the end of the day."_

_The soldiers all saluted him before breaking off into four squads, nervous chatter filling the air. By this point, the enemy soldiers were out of the forest, in plain sight, although it was painful to look directly at them._

_Cloud felt the familiar calm that came before battle settling over him, and unsheathed the massive sword from his back as he walked in front of his troops. He planned on taking the initial brunt of the assault, to sow as much confusion in the enemy ranks as possible to give his soldiers the best chance at coming out of this alive. Despite what he'd said earlier, he knew that many of them wouldn't be alive by the time the sun would set._

_As the enemy began to pick up their marching pace, Cloud dropped into a comfortable stance, his sword held with both hands, vertically in front of him, blade out. The enemy vanguard charged directly for him, screaming, and he almost felt sorry for them. Once the first soldier stepped in range, Cloud took a deep breath and struck._

_He'd had many people describe what he looked like while performing this particular technique to him over the years, but from his perspective, it was simply moving from target to target. Fifteen slashes in a quarter as many seconds. Cloud let out his breath as the fifteenth body hit the ground on the exact count of the fourth second._

_The charge faltered, stumbled, and then collapsed, soldiers screaming in horror as their allies were sliced down in the blink of an eye. Cloud's troops raised a cheer behind him and charged past into the broken enemy ranks, the sound of gunfire raining down from above._

_Cloud lost himself in the battle. Unable to use any more flashy techniques for risk of friendly fire, instead he moved from squad to squad, ensuring his troops weren't getting surrounded, and protecting their flanks as best he could._ _As the battle drew on, Cloud felt himself slowly starting to tire and was forced to less actively defend his own side. Each time one of his troops fell, he ground his teeth in anger and redoubled his efforts to protect them._

_At one point, he realized he'd accidentally gone too far out and ended up surrounded. He managed to take out two of his attackers but was forced to expose himself to the third in the process. As he braced himself to take the hit, he was surprised to hear a nearby gunshot, followed by the sound of a dropping body behind him._

_Cloud whirled around and was startled to see Jessie was the one who'd taken the enemy out. He rushed over, putting a hand on her shoulder to help support her as she wavered slightly. "What are you doing down here?" he demanded. "You should be up top!"_

_Jessie glared at him before responding. "Seriously Cloud? I'm the one who just saved you!" She took a deep breath, calming herself. "Anyway, we've got trouble, Biggs spotted a second enemy force, they're about ten minutes out, coming from the other direction. We're surrounded, Cloud."_

_He froze as he heard this, his brain racing to figure out the best response. Quickly glancing around, he noted the fighting here was now largely in their favor. "I'll handle it. You stay here with Biggs and Wedge and make sure the enemy doesn't seize the base, we're lost without it."_

_Jessie looked like she wanted to argue, but nodded grudgingly. "At least take a few soldiers with you, we've got things under control here."_

" _You five, with me," Cloud called to a group of soldiers who'd finished taking down their last opponent._

_Jessie grabbed him before he could go and pulled him close, kissing him deeply before pulling back and looking into his eyes. "You owe me a month-long vacation together once this is all over, you hear me?"_

_Cloud couldn't help but laugh. "You've got it." Together with the five soldiers he'd called out, Cloud rushed off in the direction she had indicated, his keen eyes already locking onto signs of the enemy's presence in the forest._

" _Double time!" he called out, picking up the pace. "If we can engage them while they're still in the forest their numbers won't be as significant." The soldiers all nodded their heads, struggling to keep up with him, and Cloud knew despite his exhaustion, it was asking too much to expect them to keep up with a SOLDIER._

" _Just catch up with me as soon as you can, I'll keep them busy until you arrive!" he yelled back, increasing his speed even more. He could hear Jessie's voice in his head, calling him a hypocrite, but ignored it. He had to make it to the forest's edge before the enemy, or else all their work earlier could easily be undone._

_Cloud burst into the forest, startling a flock of birds that had been nesting in the tree above him. He quickly scanned the nearby area and was pleased to not see any enemy soldiers yet. Cautiously, he slowly made his way from trunk to trunk, until he finally saw signs of movement._

_A scream of pain from behind him caused him to whirl around in surprise, his eyes locking onto an enemy scout he'd apparently missed. Cloud immediately realized what had happened. The scout had been hidden in a tree, well enough even Cloud hadn't noticed him. Apparently, the scout hadn't seen Cloud either, but as soon as one of the soldiers had walked under the tree he was hiding in, he'd dropped from above, killing them instantly._

_Cloud charged the scout, enraged, furious his inattention had cost a life. The scout's head snapped in Cloud's direction as soon as he began to move, the man's eyes widening in fear as he saw Cloud's face. The scout spun around, back towards the edge of the forest, and ran for his life. Cloud raced after him, drawing closer with each step, his rage overriding his exhaustion._

" _Take cover behind the trees, it's an ambush!" he shouted to his remaining troops as he flew past them._

_Cloud caught up to the fleeing scout just beyond the tree line, back in the grassy field of the clearing once more. He raised his sword and quickly cut the man down from behind without hesitation. And then the world exploded._

********************

_Cloud moaned in pain, his ears ringing so loudly he couldn't even tell if he'd actually made any noise at all. He struggled to figure out what had just happened. The last thing he remembered was cutting down the enemy scout, and then there had been a blindingly bright flash of light in the distance, immediately followed by a blast of air that had knocked him off his feet._

_As his vision and hearing slowly returned, the first thing Cloud heard was the screaming. He slowly got to one knee, wincing at the pain in his chest. When he looked around to find the source of the screams, he felt his mouth drop open in shock._

_Cloud recognized he was no longer out in the clearing, but beyond that, he had no idea where he was. As his head finished clearing, he realized he'd been blasted backwards, back into the forest he'd just run out of. Except the edge of the forest was simply gone now. Trees were down everywhere, some ripped completely out at the root, others snapped in half like twigs. Enemy soldiers were strewn everywhere, the only one still alive seeming to be the screaming one crushed under a huge tree._

_He reached back to the hilt of his sword and cast a quick Cure spell on himself, wishing as always he were more skilled in using Materia so he'd be able to use a stronger version of the spell. Feeling most of his aches dull slightly, Cloud grimaced. He was going to have a full-body bruise come the next morning. His wounds taken care of, for now, Cloud staggered over to the enemy soldier, and mercifully ended his suffering._

_Walking past the bodies of the soldiers who'd come with him, Cloud slowly made his way back to the base, now missing its upper half. There was only one thought in his mind the entire, painful way—Jessie._

********************

_As he stepped into the ruined remains of what used to be the mess hall, now exposed to the open air above, Cloud was surprised at how relatively low the damage was here, compared to the surroundings and given that the source of the explosion had to have been nearby. Other than the roof having collapsed, the actual blast damage appeared to be fairly minimal. Looking around for survivors, he immediately caught sight of a familiar red bandanna, wrapped around the head of a seated woman, propped up against the wall._

" _Oh thank the Ancients you're allrig…" Cloud trailed off as he drew close enough to be able to make out the state Jessie was in._

_He felt like his heart had stopped, his blood freezing in his veins._

" _No, no, no," he heard himself saying over and over._

" _Hey there… SOLDIER boy," Jessie said softly, winking up at him._

_She wasn't propped up against the wall; she was impaled to it, a length of exposed rebar jutting out through her stomach._

" _It's not… as bad as it looks. I got lucky, I saw you running out of the forest and rushed down to come help. The bomb went off right after I reached the bottom of the stairs."_ _She paused for a moment, her face wrinkling in pain._

" _This base was built to withstand explosions, just… not ones quite that large," she finished, laughing quietly before abruptly stopping._

" _Biggs? Wedge?" Cloud asked, frantically looking around them for any sign of the men._

 _Jessie shook her head in response, eyes closed._ _"They didn't make it," she whispered. "They were… still on the roof when the bomb went off. Everyone there would have died instantly."_

_Cloud swallowed hard, devastated by the news, but knew now wasn't the time to grieve for his lost friends. He had to focus on Jessie. Cloud dropped down to one knee in front of her, reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder, but pulled back at the last second, afraid of making her pain worse._

" _Let me heal you," he told her, reaching back to grab his sword, but stopping as she slowly shook her head._

" _You can't Cloud, not while this is still inside me. And if you pull me off…" she trailed off._

 _They'd both been trained in medical emergencies and knew the last thing you wanted to do with impalement was to remove the offending object. Unless, of course, you had a full medical team of doctors armed with Curaga nearby._ _Unwilling to focus on how helpless he was in this situation, Cloud redirected his thoughts to what he_ could _do. Revenge._

" _I can't believe Wutai would be insane enough to use a bomb this powerful, especially for such a trivial outpost," he snapped. "There's no_ way _this won't ignite the war everyone's been afraid of."_

" _Exactly," Jessie whispered, her eyes closing briefly._

_Cloud frowned in confusion. "What are you saying?"_

" _I know my bombs, Cloud. Wutai isn't capable of this, not even close."_

" _You're saying_ Shinra _did this?!" he exclaimed in shock. "Why in the world would they…"_ _He stopped talking as the answer crashed into him, his hand clenching tight in anger._

" _They used us!" Cloud screamed, slamming his fist into the ground at his side hard enough to draw blood. "Those bastards_ want _to start the war!"_

_Jessie slowly nodded her head in response, the look on her face confirming she'd come to the same conclusion._

" _I'll take them down," Cloud snarled, a ball of rage igniting deep within him. "I'll never stop until Shinra is gone."_

" _Cloud, no!" she pleaded, reaching out with one arm and placing her hand on his cheek. "You can't do that. Shinra is too powerful."_

" _So what, I just give up and pretend like none of this ever happened?" he snarled, hating that he was taking any of his anger out on her at all. "That Biggs and Wedge aren't dead?! That you're not…" his words were choked off, unwilling to admit what they both already knew._

" _No…" Jessie answered softly. "You break free. Stop working for Shinra. Live your life. Be happy. Can you… can you promise me that?" she asked, the tears running down her face also audible in her voice._

_Cloud swallowed long and hard as he felt the rage inside him dying down, an overwhelming sorrow taking its place. He would never be able to forgive Shinra for this betrayal. But he understood what Jessie was doing for him. She didn't want him to throw his life away on a suicide revenge mission for her. She wanted him to live. And even if it destroyed him on the inside to make this promise, he would do it. For her._

_He slowly nodded his head. "I promise."_

_Jessie sighed in relief, her arm falling back down into her lap and her entire body visibly relaxing as he made his promise. Her face immediately winced in pain as her body shifted. Cloud's eyes widened in horror as he saw her body spasm briefly, before she coughed wetly, bloody spittle covering her lips._

" _Guess I... can't... hide it... any longer," Jessie panted, her eyes clenched shut._

_Cloud felt like he was in a nightmare. This couldn't be real. He wanted to be able to hold her close and tell her everything was going to be fine. But it wasn't. He was no longer able to deny what he'd known as soon as he'd seen her. That everything was over._

" _Cloud, please... Please just... make the pain stop," she begged, looking at him pleadingly._

_Cloud recoiled, understanding what she was asking of him, but unwilling to carry it out. His resolve instantly collapsed, however, as he stared into her eyes, unable to stand the look of raw agony in them. As he slowly got to his feet, Jessie craned her neck to look up at him, clearly fighting through the pain._

_She smiled softly. "Need you... to make... one last… promise," she whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear._

" _Anything," he immediately responded._

_Tears were now running down her face, and Cloud could feel them streaking down his own. "Don't... don't blame yourself," she begged him._

" _This was Shinra. Not you."_

_Cloud nodded his head once more, unable to speak, static filling his ears as he unsheathed the sword from his back. He was barely able to read the words 'I love you' on Jessie's lips as she closed her eyes for the last time before his tears made it impossible to see anything but a blur._

_Furious with Shinra, angry with himself for getting Avalanche involved in the first place, Cloud violently wiped the tears from his eyes with his arm._

" _I love you too," he told her, before swinging his sword and ending her suffering—his heart, shattering in the process._

********************

Cloud came back to reality in a daze. He knew he'd been narrating the entire story to Aerith, but he'd been so lost in reliving that horrible moment he couldn't remember a single word he'd said. The first thing he noticed was the room was now pitch black, the sun setting long ago. He could feel tears running down his face, but kept them out of his voice, speaking on in a monotone.

"The part of me that was a SOLDIER died that day. Knowing what I did, even without Jessie's request, there was no way I could continue to work for Shinra. So I faked my death. It was laughably easy. The explosion had made it impossible to identify so many bodies already, who would know there was one too few?

"The news reports said there had been no survivors, on either side, from the cowardly explosion Wutai had unleashed. Of course, I knew the truth, even if no one else did, and now you do as well."

Cloud's blood chilled as a sudden realization dawned on him. This was a colossal secret, one he'd kept closely guarded for years now. If Shinra somehow learned Aerith knew what had sparked the war…

He shook his head. He refused to allow that. He would prevent anything like that from ever happening. Focusing back on the present, Cloud waited for Aerith to say something, his concern mounting as the silence drew out. He knew she was still there, even though he couldn't see her, since there was a noise coming from her chair.

Panicked he'd terrified her, he frantically reached for the lamp next to him and flicked it on, its bright light causing him to close his eyes in pain. Blinking rapidly to clear them, Aerith slowly came into focus as his eyes adjusted to the light.

Her forehead was wrinkled, her eyes swollen and closed shut. She was biting her lower lip, causing her chin to be pulled up and the edges of her cheeks to harshly crease. Cloud could make out the individual tendons on her neck, straining as her throat trembled. A continuous stream of tears was running down her face, streaking what little makeup she wore. Her entire upper body was shaking gently with her sobs, the sound of her distress what he'd heard in the darkness.

Cloud knew, objectively, that if you stripped the context of the night away and looked at Aerith's face right now, the average person wouldn't say it was attractive, especially compared to the way she usually looked. But to him, despite the ruined makeup, the puffy, bloodshot eyes, and runny nose, she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his life.

"Cloud, I…" her throat tightened as she swallowed hard. "I don't even know what to say," she whispered in agony, a sob breaking free and preventing her from saying more.

He slowly nodded his head, watching her through the tears that continued to run from his own eyes, not needing her to say anything at all since he could so easily read everything she wanted to say just from her face.

One of the main reasons he'd never told anyone about what had happened was because he had been afraid of them judging him for what he'd done. There was none of that in Aerith's tear stricken face. For the first time in years, he felt the hand clenched around his heart gently loosen a fraction. He wondered if maybe, just maybe, there was a chance for happiness with this incredible woman.

Aerith slowly got to her feet but didn't move from in front of her chair, holding her arms out to the side. Cloud immediately understood what she was offering, and without needing to think, closed the distance between them, moving to stand right in front of her. In silence, the two embraced, one finding peace, the other comfort, as they clung together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to TheJSFFenix for helping look over Cloud's flashback.
> 
> This is a pretty brutal chapter to be left with, I know. I can promise that the rest of the story is much more Comfort than Hurt. The four of the remaining chapters should be up next weekend, although I'm not sure if it will be Saturday or Sunday. All comments are greatly appreciated, even if you just want to (respectfully) yell at me for what I put the two of them through.


	7. Chapter 7

Aerith couldn't believe she was actually here. She'd never imagined back when Cloud had asked where she'd most want to visit, he'd actually surprise her with an impromptu two-day vacation. But as the sights and sounds around her sank in, Aerith could no longer deny she was finally here: Gold Saucer.

They'd left Midgar in the early hours of the morning, earlier even than she normally woke up to pick flowers. A train had taken them to Junon Harbor, and from there they'd hopped on a boat to Costa del Sol. When they had arrived at the beach resort, Aerith had almost wished it was their destination instead.

The palm trees, golden beaches, and crystal blue water had called to her in a way she'd never felt before. Unfortunately, she hadn't packed a swimsuit, and there was no way she'd ever go swimming in just her underwear, so she resigned herself to returning on a separate trip. They'd had an hour until their next train departed, however, so she'd convinced Cloud to walk on the beach with her, loving every second of feeling the sand squishing between her toes. He'd left his shoes on, but she'd been able to tell from his face he was enjoying it as well.

Now, as the last remnants of the sun's light vanished beyond the horizon, the neon lights of Gold Saucer reached their peak impact. The dazzling colors, the sounds of the attractions, and the sight of so many people enjoying themselves blew Aerith away. Nothing she'd read could have prepared her for how incredible it was to actually be here. She wanted nothing more than to dive right into the middle of it all, dragging Cloud along with her, but her body was screaming for sleep after the long day of non-stop travel.

As a large yawn forced its way out of her mouth, she saw Cloud grin at her through her squinted eyes. "I told you you should have slept on the train ride," he chided gently.

Pouting playfully, she stuck her tongue out. "I tried! It's not my fault getting to visit Gold Saucer with my boyfriend made me too excited to sleep!"

She smiled to herself at the word 'boyfriend'. It felt so good to be able to call Cloud that, and it didn't hurt either that every time she did, she got to see his cheeks redden slightly.

"You want to go check it out before we sign into the hotel?"

Aerith bit the side of her lip, strongly considering this possibility, before another unexpected yawn ended up making the decision for her. "No… we can wait until tomorrow," she decided in resignation.

Hand in hand, they found the hotel Cloud had made a reservation at. He quickly checked them in, before carrying their bags down the hallway to their room—Aerith trailing behind him. Their room wasn't anything special, a bathroom right next to the entrance, down a hallway with a door at the end leading to the bedroom. The bedroom itself was fairly spacious, a large king-sized bed dominating the room, opposite a wall-mounted television, with a walk-in closet on the wall next to the bathroom.

Cloud dragged their luggage into the closet, before turning to look back at her. "Go ahead and use the shower first, I'll watch some television while I wait."

Aerith smiled in thanks. "Thanks, that's sweet of you to offer. It'll help give my hair more time to dry before going to bed, so I appreciate it. Want me to bring your stuff into the bathroom?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," Cloud responded, reaching into his luggage to pull out the small bag of toiletries he'd brought.

Aerith took it from him—grabbing her own, larger, bag from her suitcase—before moving off to the bathroom. She left Cloud's on the countertop next to the sink, not wanting to intrude on his privacy by poking around inside, and unpacked her own. While she'd brought her favorite lily scented shampoo and conditioner, she'd left the rest of her wide array of hair care products back home. They were only going to be away for three nights, so she wasn't concerned about any long-term damage, and it would have been a pain to bring them all anyway.

She started the shower water so it would be hot by the time she was ready to get in, and removed her clothes, before taking the ribbons out of her hair and quickly unbraiding it. Once finished, she tested the water and found it to be the perfect temperature. Aerith stepped into the shower, under the cascade of deliciously warm water, and let out a huge sigh of contentment. She'd needed this; nothing was more relaxing than a hot shower after a long day of travel.

Not wanting to make Cloud wait too long, she eventually grabbed her shampoo and began working it into her scalp, rinsing it out and then repeating the process with the conditioner. With her hair taken care of, Aerith grabbed the pink loofah she'd brought and lathered it up with her lavender-scented body soap. She quickly scrubbed her body down, making sure to keep her hair out of the water as much as possible.

Reluctantly turning off the shower once she finished rinsing all the soap off, Aerith grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her hair before using another to dry off her body. She'd forgotten to grab a clean set of underwear from her suitcase, so instead, she wrapped the towel around herself before heading back to the bedroom.

"Oh, perfect timing, this show—" Cloud began as she entered the room before he abruptly cut off.

Glancing over to see what was wrong, Aerith was flustered to see him staring directly at her, his eyes seeming to drink her in. "You're staring," she teased softly, snapping Cloud out of his trance.

He averted his eyes, flushing slightly before responding. "Sorry, you're just so…" he trailed off.

"Don't apologize, I didn't mind," she clarified, her heart swelling. "I've just never had anyone look at me that intently before."

Cloud looked pleased at this, as he turned the television off and moved towards the bathroom. "I hope you left some hot water for me," he said, winking as he walked past her.

Aerith felt her mouth drop open. Was this really Cloud? The same stubborn, always serious, man she'd fallen for? She found herself falling even more in love with him, before whirling around and sticking her tongue out at his back. "Let's see how long _you_ spend relaxing once you're the one under the water, Mister!"

Cloud laughed as he closed the bathroom door, and she made her way over to her suitcase to get her pajamas. They were cool, lightweight silk, perfect for the summer heat. She slipped them on, before grabbing her hairbrush and settling down in the chair Cloud had been using earlier. As she waited for her hair to dry out a bit more, Aerith found herself thinking back to the story of his past he'd told her last week.

Just the thought of it made her eyes wet. She couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like to lose someone so close to you, much less having to be the one to ultimately take their life. Aerith was amazed at Cloud's strength. It had broken him, for sure, but she didn't think she would have been able to press on the way he had. Recognizing part of this was due to his promise to Jessie, Aerith said a thank you to the incredible woman she'd never gotten the chance to meet.

"Alright, I have to admit, you were right. It was worth spending a bit of extra time relaxing in the shower," she heard Cloud say as he entered the room, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"See! I told—"

It was Aerith's turn to be struck speechless. Cloud was wearing only a towel, but unlike her, he'd only wrapped it around his waist. His chest was like a marble sculpture, the surface marred by two long scars, but they only served to enhance his look. She was thankful to already be seated, her entire body feeling like it had liquified all at once.

"Now you're the one ogling _me_ ," he pointed out, his amusement clear.

"I wasn't _ogling_!" she spluttered in denial. "I was just… admiring."

Barely managing to tear her eyes away, she shifted her gaze up to his face. She wasn't prepared for what she saw. Aerith tried as hard as she possibly could to contain her laughter but ended up failing miserably.

"Your hair," she gasped, struggling to talk. "You look like a drowned rat!"

Cloud struggled not to smile at this description, one of his hands lifting up to run through his damp hair. His normal spikes were completely gone, his hair instead limply drooping around his face. "I've always thought the exact same thing every time I get out of the shower. Thankfully it spikes back up on its own once it's dry. I've never really understood how."

He walked into the closet, closing the door to give himself some privacy as he got dressed. Cloud emerged a moment later, a bathrobe wrapped around himself. Even though it covered much more than the towel, Aerith found her eyes drawn to the narrow sliver of his chest still peeking through.

"I'm surprised to find you still up, I expected you to be all curled up in bed."

She laughed softly and shook her head, reaching up to undo the towel that had been holding her hair in a bun and used it to help finish removing the last of the moisture. Now that it was mostly dry, she left it draped over the back of the chair.

"I have to let my hair dry out and then brush it before putting it into a loose braid, or else it's going to turn into a knotted mess and be a complete nightmare in the morning," she explained, picking up her brush.

"Want a hand with that?"

Aerith's hand paused in midair and she blinked in surprise at the offer. "Oh, um, sure, I guess if you want to?" Realizing she was rambling, she closed her mouth.

Cloud walked over to stand behind her and took the brush from her hand. "Anything I need to know? I don't ever have to brush mine."

She shook her head softly. "Nope, nothing special. Just be gentle please. I've got a lot of it, so it's really going to hurt if you yank it."

Aerith sat there waiting for him to begin, feeling him gathering her hair in one of his hands, but then nothing. The moment drew out longer and longer until she started to wonder what was going on. "Cloud?" she asked, slowly turning to look over her shoulder.

Laughter burst from her lips when she saw what he'd been doing. He'd grabbed her hair near the end with one hand and was staring intently at it, making very slow and delicate strokes with the brush. "Okay, maybe not quite _that_ gentle," she teased, one hand raised to her mouth to stifle her amusement.

He flushed cutely in embarrassment. She took the brush from him and quickly ran it through her hair in a broad stroke while sectioning it off with her other hand to show him what she meant—handing it back to him after. As Cloud began to properly brush her hair, Aerith was surprised at how different it felt compared to what she was used to. It was like tiny sparks of electricity were shooting from her scalp across her entire body. She sank deeper into the chair, focusing entirely on the sensation.

Her mother had brushed her hair as a child, of course, but that had been many years ago, and she was positive it hadn't been anything like this. It certainly never felt _this_ good when she did it herself. Aerith lost track of time as she immersed herself in the feeling of the brush running through her hair. She was incredibly disappointed as the experience came to an end.

"Uhh, I think I'm done? Sorry if I wasn't very good…"

She spun around—Cloud jumping in surprise at her abrupt movement—as she clasped his hands in hers. "No, that was _amazing_ ," she reassured him. "We're going to be doing this again in the future."

Cloud looked surprised to hear this but nodded in confirmation before a large yawn escaped his lips. Of course, that caused her to yawn as well. Quickly, with practiced hands, she braided her hair loosely into the simple braid she slept in. "I think our bodies are trying to tell us something," she said, laughing.

He murmured his agreement, and the two of them got up and walked to either side of the bed. Cloud flipped off the lights and she heard him remove his bathrobe as she slipped under the sheets, slightly self-conscious about sharing the bed while half-naked. Light filtering through the curtains from outside still allowed her to see the outline of his body.

As they settled down onto their respective sides of the bed, an idea came to Aerith. Before she could second-guess herself, she decided to bring it up. "How would you feel about trying to get more used to some physical contact by touching me, not just my hair?"

"Just places you're comfortable with," she hurried to clarify. Not that she was inherently opposed to letting him touch her more intimately, but she knew that would be moving way too fast for either of them. "Maybe my arms or my stomach?"

There was a long moment with no indication from Cloud of what he thought about her proposal. As the silence drew on, Aerith was about to speak up again, when she felt him shift towards her slightly. "It's… been a very long time since I've done anything like that," he said softly, embarrassment clearly evident in his voice.

"That's fine, just take it slow and do whatever you're comfortable with. I'll let you know if I want you to stop."

As she lay there, waiting to feel Cloud's hands on her skin, she fought against the negative memories that bubbled up, threatening to overwhelm her. Her hands gripped the sheets at her sides tightly and she took several deep breaths to try and calm herself. Cloud wasn't Kadaj. She knew, without doubt, he wouldn't take advantage of her like the other man had, or she never would have even put herself in this position in the first place. Despite that, she still felt her heart beating rapidly in her chest as she waited.

After several minutes of absolutely nothing happening, however, Aerith felt her heart rate return to normal and she loosened her grip on the sheets. She turned her head to the side to look in Cloud's direction. Her eyes immediately met his, and she saw a hint of something that looked like panic flickering in their sapphire depths.

"Cloud?" she asked, softly. "What's wrong?"

He swallowed deeply, before responding. "You were trembling like a leaf in a storm. I don't want to hurt you."

The last of the tension in her body melted away as she heard this. "I'm sorry for worrying you. I know you're not… him," she said gently. Reaching over, she took one of his hands in her own.

"But I do want this," she stated clearly, pulling his hand across the gap between them and settling it on her stomach—her top pulled up slightly.

His hand flinched slightly as it touched her skin, but Cloud didn't jerk it away. For a moment they lay there like this, his hand motionless except for the gentle rhythm of her breathing. The warmth of it was sinking into her, and she shifted her legs, the sheets sliding against her skin. Her breathing picked up. She hadn't realized this would excite her so much, so quickly.

Aerith tried not to giggle as she felt his hand slowly start to move. She wasn't particularly ticklish, but the intimacy of Cloud's hand moving across her skin was more enjoyable than she'd expected. As he slowly got more comfortable, her body relaxed, her thighs rubbing together now as his touch ignited her.

His hand began to drift upwards, and her heart began to beat even faster as she anticipated what was coming next. Right as his hand brushed gently against her top, however, it jerked away—back down to the safety of her stomach. Slightly disappointed, Aerith's amusement warred with her arousal as his hand drifted lower, once again bouncing away once he touched the silk of her bottoms.

Cloud's hand made one more round-trip before pulling away. The loss of contact was disappointing, but she was more concerned about how he was doing. "Cloud, are you—"

"Sorry, I know that probably wasn't great. What if we just hugged again, instead?"

Compassion overwhelmed her, knowing he was doing his best to fight against the fear of letting someone get close to him again. "Not at all, it was perfect. Thank you."

She scooted across the bed to wrap her arms around him as he lay on his side, her head resting against his upper chest as his chin settled onto her hair. "You smell like coconut," she noted in surprise, the smell reminding her of the beach from earlier in the day.

"And you smell like flowers, of course."

She could hear his amusement in his voice, and it made her lips curl upward. "Which kind of flower?" she asked, softly.

"Your favorite, a lily," he responded with confidence.

She softly nodded her head against him, as the two settled into a comfortable silence. With her ear pressed to his chest, Aerith could hear Cloud's heart beating, the gentle rhythm extremely comforting. She loved the feeling of her cheek against his skin. It was soft, but with a firm hardness underneath—comfortable and reassuring. Feeling him poking her in the stomach, she was relieved to not be the only one who was getting turned on by being so closely pressed together.

"Your feet are cold," Cloud laughed softly, as her toes brushed up against his.

"Well yours are nice and warm, so help me out here," she teased, their legs and feet tangling together before eventually settling back down. "What were you going to say after I pointed out you were staring?" she asked in a whisper, feeling sleep sneaking up on her.

There was a long pause after the question—long enough she thought Cloud might have fallen asleep—before she heard him softly whisper in reply. "I was going to tell you how stunningly beautiful you are."

Her face caught fire, her heart suddenly racing to the point where she was sure he had to be able to feel it. "Thank you," she whispered back, snuggling even tighter into him.

They stayed together like this for several more minutes, Aerith enjoying the feeling of being so closely pressed against him. Eventually, she rolled over so her back was now against Cloud's chest, his arm wrapped around her, under her breasts, and the two of them fell into blissful sleep together.

********************

Aerith woke up the next morning feeling better rested than she could remember in a long time. Blinking to clear the last of the lingering drowsiness from her eyes, she stretched her entire body, her toes barely scraping against the end of the bed. Reaching out for Cloud's warmth, her fingers only found the sheets. She was a little disappointed not to feel him still pressed against her, but wasn't too surprised he'd rolled away in the middle of the night. Wondering if he was awake yet, or if she'd get to see what he looked like while he slept, she rolled over to check on him.

Her heart stopped when she saw the empty side next to her. Aerith began to hyperventilate as she sat up and frantically scanned the rest of the room, but there was no trace of what had happened to him. She suddenly felt so cold. Against her will, she flashed back to that horrible night in college, her body beginning to shake.

She couldn't believe she'd been so stupid; that she'd thought anyone could care for someone like her. Some part of her mind was screaming Cloud would never do this to her, but it was drowned out by the overwhelming reality she had woken up to. Trembling violently, Aerith curled up in a ball under the sheets, a sob wrenching its way out of her throat.

* * *

Cloud finished drying his hands on the towel hanging next to the sink in the bathroom, hoping the sound of the running water hadn't woken Aerith, especially after he'd been so careful to not wake her when he noticed she was still asleep. He smiled softly at his reflection in the mirror, remembering how peaceful she'd looked with her head on the pillow and the morning sun dancing over her face. The last time he'd been this happy in a relationship had been with Jessie, and as this thought crossed his mind, he realized he was now able to think of her with a fond sadness instead of the usual overwhelming sorrow.

Eager to get back and see Aerith again, Cloud quietly opened the bathroom door and stepped out into the hall, gently shutting it behind him as he softly padded back to the bedroom. He paused for a moment with his hand on the doorknob, his heart swelling at the thought of seeing her again. A faint noise came from the other side as he cracked the door open, and he wondered if she'd already woken up as he poked his head into the room.

Cloud's face contorted in horror as he saw the shape under the sheets rocking back and forth, Aerith's full-body sobs driving into him like flaming knives. Before he even realized what he was doing, he burst the rest of the way through the door—sending it slamming into the wall—as he frantically leaped onto the bed. He dove under the sheets, wrapping his body around hers.

"I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry," he whispered desperately into her ear, rubbing his hands up and down her arms as he cradled her body against his. Some part of his brain was reacting in shock to what he was doing, but he shoved it away—ignored it—focused entirely on the woman in his arms. Her cries were breaking his heart, and internally he viciously beat himself over and over for doing this to her. Even though it had been inadvertent, he couldn't forgive himself for doing this to her.

"I didn't leave you. I had to go to the bathroom and I didn't want to wake you up. It was stupid; I should have known what it would do to you if you woke up while I was gone. I didn't mean for this to happen…"

His explanation trailed off as he wept, the sound of their sorrow twining together.

* * *

Aerith found herself in a pitch-black void. She had no idea where she was but curiously noted that didn't seem to alarm her. As she grew more accustomed to the darkness, she realized it wasn't actually a lack of light, but instead a lack of color. The only thing other than black she could make out was a yellow blur in the distance. Curious, she began to walk towards it.

As she drew closer to the mysterious object, she realized it was a yellow lily—seemingly floating in midair. She reached out to grab its stem, but before her fingers were able to touch it, they brushed against something hard and cold. There was a loud shattering noise, far louder than seemed normal, and she jerked her hand back—hissing in pain. A crimson trail making its way down her right index finger became the third color she could make out.

The flower now appeared to be floating on its side, until she realized its petals were completely flat, as if it were lying on a surface. Gingerly reaching out with her uninjured hand, she found that there was, in fact, a hard surface at about table height from the ground. Making a pass around its edge, her legs bumped into a chair she couldn't see. Figuring she might as well sit, Aerith did just that.

From this angle, she could faintly make out the shape of something lying scattered around the flower, presumably whatever she'd accidentally broken. Deciding to try again, Aerith pulled the shirt she was wearing over her head and wrapped it around her left hand. With some basic protection from the sharp edges now, she reached out and slowly gathered all the broken pieces in front of her. She left the flower alone in the middle for now.

As she placed the final piece next to the others, she realized she could see a warped, twisted, broken reflection of her face looking back up at her. She still wasn't sure what type of material it was made out of, but given the context, it must have been a flower vase before she broke it.

" _You deserve this,"_ the voice that was her, but wasn't her, in the glass whispered.

Aerith frowned at this. She wasn't disturbed by the mysterious voice, instead was more curious—unsure if it was correct. She picked up a piece from the edge of the pile and held it up against the flower, allowing her to make out its shape. She repeated this process with the other pieces until she found one that shared an edge with the first. As she placed the edges together, they firmly stuck together, as if glued.

" _You're better off alone."_

She cocked her head, considering if that was true as she picked up another piece and began the whole process over again. "Maybe before that was the case, but now I have someone I care about," she responded, finding another set of pieces and connecting them.

" _Don't let yourself be vulnerable, you'll only end up getting hurt!"_ There was a hint of anger to the voice now.

"Possibly," Aerith admitted, connecting two more of the pieces. She wasn't entirely sure, but it felt like the smothering blackness was becoming just a bit lighter. "But without trying, without opening yourself to the possibility of being hurt, can you truly say you're alive?" she continued. "I could keep myself locked away, hiding from the pain, but that has its own consequences too."

She was now getting the hang of finding matching pieces, quickly connecting several in a row. It was easy now to tell color was indeed slowly filtering into her surroundings. The table and chair were a light gray—halfway between black and white. The floor had a soft hint of green and the ceiling was a faint blue.

" _You tried before. That pain destroyed you, why would this time be any different?"_

"Because they're nothing alike. Cloud cares for me, deeply. You can see it in the way he acts and the things he does, like the picnic dinner. Plus, he's also experienced more than his fair share of pain."

By the time she finished speaking, all but one of the pieces had been completed. The reflection of the other her was now reduced down to just its lips—locked in a grimace.

" _He doesn't really care about you, he was using you. Like they all do,"_ snarled the voice.

Saddened she could have ever thought this, Aerith shook her head. "No, Cloud would never do anything to hurt me. I trust him." She picked up the remaining piece, watching the last trace of the other her vanish.

As the final piece of the pitch-black vase clicked into place, it shimmered, changing into a clear, transparent glass. She could still see her reflection in it, but now it was the real her—smiling softly at herself.

Aerith got to her feet and took one last look around. She was standing atop a grassy hill, a white garden table and chair in front of her. The vast blue sky spread above her, spotless except for a single cloud almost directly overhead. She took the flower off of the table and gently placed it back into the vase.

Closing her eyes, the smell of the grass slowly faded, the sound of the breeze vanishing. She felt a freeing sense of peace and calm as she slowly reopened her eyes, Cloud's tear-streaked face directly over hers coming into view. Beaming with happiness, Aerith reached up with one hand and cupped his cheek, using her thumb to brush away his tears.

"There's no need to cry," she told him.

Cloud's lip wobbled, his head pressing into her hand, "I failed you. I never should have…"

Aerith shook her head firmly and placed a finger on his lips, silencing him. "You did nothing wrong. There's nothing for you to apologize for. It was silly of me to think you'd ever do that to me."

She paused for a brief moment, looking deep into the depths of the ocean of his eyes to give her words the weight she wanted. "Thank you for being there for me, Cloud."

"Always," he responded, his voice thick with emotion.

* * *

Tifa sighed in relief as she saw Aerith's account finally come online. She'd made her friend promise to video call her first thing in the morning, the day after they arrived, to let Tifa know everything was okay. With that assurance in place, she had felt comfortable enough letting Aerith go on vacation with some unknown man. Tifa knew she was being overprotective, but she refused to let anyone hurt her best friend, especially after what she'd already been through.

"Hey girl, how's it... what in the Planet happened?!" she demanded, her tone abruptly changing as Aerith's video finally came through.

"That bad, huh?" Aerith responded, wincing. Her hair was a disheveled mess, she had traces of bags under her eyes, and they were bloodshot.

"Go lock the door immediately. If it already is, then prop a chair up against it as well. Call security if he tries to force his way through. I'm buying a ticket to head over there right now. I knew it was a mistake to... Aerith?" Tifa hesitated in the middle of her onslaught as her friend started laughing.

It took Aerith a moment to stop laughing enough to be able to talk, and Tifa felt her body relaxing as she realized that despite how weathered Aerith looked, she actually seemed to be okay.

"You're adorable, but no, nothing happened. There was just a small... misunderstanding this morning," Aerith eventually explained.

"What happened?" she demanded, her fist clenching. "If he touched you against your will…"

"No, no! Nothing like that!" Aerith hurried to clarify. "It's stupid, really. He woke up and had to use the bathroom, but didn't want to wake me so he was very quiet. I ended up waking up while he was gone and… well, I'm sure you can figure out the rest."

Tifa let out a long sigh as she felt the last of the tension drain from her body. "Oh… I suppose that means you had to tell him why you reacted the way I imagine you did?"

To her surprise, Aerith shook her head in response. "Nope, I actually already told him a while ago. I don't blame him for doing what he did, even though he knew about my past. He was gone for like five minutes at most, it was really just horrible timing."

"So where is he now, this mystery man of yours?" Tifa asked, peering into the background behind Aerith hoping to catch a glimpse of him.

"C—He's out getting us a late breakfast, and also checking on reservations for any of the more popular attractions," her friend explained.

"You're going to pet a chocobo, right?" Tifa demanded, her excitement leaking into her voice.

Aerith nodded her head, laughing. "I may not love them as much as you do, but yes, I'm looking forward to getting to see one again. I'm also going to try and find you a plushy of one, or some other kind of souvenir."

Tifa couldn't contain her squee of joy at this, wishing she could jump up and hug Aerith. "You are the best friend _ever_!" she exclaimed, bouncing up and down in her chair.

"Even despite the fact I won't tell you my boyfriend's name?" Aerith asked, her eyes twinkling.

"I'm surprised you haven't slipped up and used it yet, to be honest," Tifa grumbled.

Aerith laughed and pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes and shaking her head softly. "It's seriously exhausting, I'm already tired of it. Once we're back in Midgar I promise to introduce you. I hope you'll like him, I'm pretty sure you will."

Tifa saw Aerith turn her head, before she looked back at the screen, a wide smile on her face. "Oh, I think he's back. I've gotta run, can't be giving you an early peek," she said, winking.

Tifa wryly shook her head in response. "You two love chocobos have fun. I'm holding you to that promise once you're back, though."

Aerith nodded, and the call cut out. Tifa sighed as she got up and stretched. By this point, she was very much looking forward to meeting this mystery man who'd had such a positive impact on her best friend. She was also jealous Aerith was going to be able to see the famed chocobo races of Gold Saucer in person. Deciding to settle for the next best thing, she sat back down and pulled up some of her favorite chocobo videos.


	8. Chapter 8

Cloud was looking forward to the date this afternoon. He'd made some loose plans for things he wanted to do with Aerith—only one of which was mandatory in his mind—but mostly he was excited to spend the rest of the day together with her.

He smiled warmly at the woman in question as she exited the bedroom and joined him at the door to their room. Her hair was back up in its usual braid and no longer showed any of the disrepair from earlier this morning. A lump grew in his throat as he thought back to that moment, before pushing away the memory. Aerith had firmly nixed his concern, and he wanted to respect her wishes to not dwell on it.

Instead, remembering their not-a-date from what felt like a lifetime ago, Cloud reached out and grabbed her hand, gently tugging her closer to his side as they left the hotel room. He smiled as she let go, instead wrapping her arm around his—her head resting on his shoulder. The feeling of her body against his no longer caused him stress—only comfort and a warm feeling of happiness. Leaving the hotel, they slowly walked towards the center of Gold Saucer.

"So, what would you like to do first?" he asked as they reached the central hub.

There was already a very large crowd of people there, bustling around on all sides of them. Children were shrieking and parents were desperately trying to corral them with little success, but Cloud could make out the occasional couple as well.

He felt Aerith stir at his side before she dropped his arm and stepped away, the lack of her warmth against him an immediate disappointment. She looked around at the various signs for a moment, before spinning back around to face him. "Can we go see the chocobo races?" she asked, her voice full of excitement.

"Of course," he said, amused how eager she was.

Aerith grabbed his hand again and rushed off in the direction of the races, forcing Cloud to run with her or else be dragged along. Inside the large stadium, they found a bench away from the majority of the crowd that offered them a bit more privacy, while still providing a good view of a large section of the track.

"I never realized you were such a big fan of chocobos," he commented, once they were seated.

"I've loved them ever since I was a little girl," she admitted. "One of the few memories I have of my father was him taking me on a trip to the countryside to go chocobo riding. As soon as I was on its back, its feathers all around me, the wind rushing through my hair, I fell completely in love with them."

Cloud was extremely touched by this little story of her past, and he wrapped an arm around her, hugging her to his side. He was overjoyed as her head returned to its now-familiar resting place on his shoulder.

"Which one are you rooting for?"

She pointed to a medium-sized chocobo set apart from the rest of the herd, its plumage a rather unique light pastel green. "You can do it Melonpan!" Aerith called out, and Cloud eyed her quizzically.

He could only see the number nineteen on the sash around its neck and wasn't sure where she'd gotten the name from. "Melonpan?"

Aerith lifted her head and turned to give him a very serious look. "Yes, Melonpan. That's its name."

Cloud struggled to contain his amusement but was unable to prevent his lips from curling upwards. "You know you can't eat it, right?"

Aerith sighed loudly and rolled her eyes at him. "Why do boys always have to be so literal?" she muttered under her breath, Cloud's keen ears allowing him to still hear what she'd said.

"I don't want to _eat_ it, you dummy, it's just a cute name," she explained more loudly, giving him a look that said this was the most obvious thing in the world and he should be embarrassed for not realizing it.

Cloud put up both of his hands in surrender, laughing. "Okay, okay. Well in that case I hope… Melonpan… wins as well."

A loud gunshot interrupted them, signaling the start of the race, and the chocobos exploded out of their enclosure and began to sprint down the track. He had no idea what, if any, rules there were, but if he was being honest, he was paying more attention to his girlfriend bouncing next to him on the bench than to the colored birds running around in circles.

She was full of such… unfiltered joy. It radiated off her, filling him with a sense of peace and calm. He was reminded of the sun, poking out from behind the clouds after a long rain, spreading its warmth to everything in sight.

Melonpan ended up not winning—to Aerith's immense disappointment—but the bird had still managed to come in third place, which, according to the announcer, was a massive upset. This seemed to mollify her somewhat, and together they stood up and stretched, holding hands once again.

As they made their way from the racetrack, Aerith let out what Cloud could only describe as a squeal of pure joy and darted away from his side. Unsure of what had captured her attention, he followed after her, wondering what could have possibly excited her so much.

He caught up to his girlfriend in front of a stand packed full of various prizes on shelves, a large, white, chocobo plush standing out from the rest at the very top.

"What do I have to do to win that?" Aerith asked the clerk eagerly, pointing up at the doll.

The man smiled at her knowingly, nodding his head in approval at her selection. "Ah yes, our grand prize. It's quite the challenge, but I'm sure a beautiful little thing like yourself is up to the task," he said, his eyes flicking over her body.

Her face twitched at this, but she didn't say anything. Cloud had a harder time keeping himself in check, his fist clenching tightly as he scowled. He wanted to walk over and punch the man in the face but managed to restrain himself. Barely.

"All you have to do is hit that target under it with a shot from this gun," the man explained, holding out the toy rifle in question. "It'll cost you one hundred gil for three shots."

Aerith fished the coins out of her purse and set them down on the counter, instead of handing them to him. She took the three rubber bullets the man exchanged them with, before grabbing the offered gun and walking over the firing line he'd pointed out.

Cloud stepped off to the side behind her, watching her figure out how to load the bullets before she took aim with her first shot. Unsurprisingly, it went wide, but she didn't seem disappointed at all. She paused briefly, looking towards where it had hit, head cocked slightly to the side. After a moment, Aerith raised the rifle and readied her next shot.

This time it was closer on target, although still off. It smacked into the doll's stomach, bouncing off and landing at Cloud's foot. He idly bent down and picked it up, twirling it in his fingers as he watched Aerith line up her final shot.

"Sorry about that Snowy," she said under her breath, and Cloud chuckled at yet another new name she'd come up with.

Aerith held her shooting pose for much longer this time, and Cloud could read in her body language just how much she wanted to win this. As he heard the shot go off, he unconsciously held his breath, praying to the Ancients for her aim to be true. Aerith cried out in joy as the shot landed directly in the center of the target—Cloud releasing his breath—but then they both froze in surprise. The chocobo remained on its perch—it hadn't fallen.

"What's going on?" Aerith demanded, glaring at the man.

The stall owner shrugged and shook his head, responding in an oily tone, "I'm sorry, but it must not have been a strong enough hit. You're more than welcome to try again, though."

"We've still got one more shot," Cloud pointed out, holding up the rubber bullet from Aerith's second attempt.

The man looked like he was about to protest before Cloud glared angrily at him from behind Aerith. "And this time no funny business," he said firmly, his eyes locked on the man's hand that was hidden under the counter as if he could see through it.

The stand owner paled at the implied threat in Cloud's voice and pulled his hands away, holding them both up for Cloud to see. "Please sir, you wound me. Of course this is perfectly fair and… and I'd be more than happy to let you try again."

Cloud handed Aerith the bullet before wrapping his arms around her middle, holding her close to him as he leaned in to whisper in her ear. "You've got this."

He felt her nod against him as she loaded the bullet and took her aim once more. Cloud kept his eyes on the man behind the counter, relieved to see he was still standing away from whatever mechanism he'd used to rig the targets. His attention shifted back to Aerith—loving the feeling of her body against his. They fit together so perfectly. After several moments of silent concentration, he felt her arms tense as she pulled the trigger and he grinned as the target flopped down, the shelf under the doll dropping out causing it to fall onto the counter.

Aerith rushed over and grabbed the huge doll—almost half her height—hugging it tightly, while completely ignoring the now upset looking stand owner.

"It's so fluffy!" she said to Cloud, her eyes glowing with excitement.

"I'm glad it all worked out in the end," he said, smiling back at her. "Especially with how happy you look. What are we going to do with it, though? Are you planning to carry it around with us for the rest of the day?"

Aerith paused next to him, and he had to stop as well to not leave her behind, realizing she hadn't thought this far ahead.

"Do you mind if we make a quick stop back to the room to drop it off?" she asked hesitantly.

"Not at all," he reassured her, resting his hand on her back and rubbing it gently in a circle.

Together, they made their way back to the room and dropped the doll off in the bedroom, taking a moment for bathroom breaks before heading back to the main square. Once they arrived, Cloud pulled out his phone to check the time. Aerith gasped next to him as he flicked it on.

"Wait, is your lock screen my flower shop?" she asked in surprise, reaching out for his phone. "When did you take this?"

He flushed as he handed the phone over, remembering back to the day that now felt so long ago. "It's from the first day we met, actually. I'd forgotten to change out a picture of my ex, so I snapped a picture of your flowers as a temporary replacement. I guess I've grown kind of attached to it," he admitted.

Aerith's eyebrows rose at this, but he was relieved she didn't press about Tifa. Instead, she bounced a few steps away from him—his phone still in her hand—and gave him a cheeky look. "Does that mean I get to be your lock screen now?" she teased, her head cocked to one side and her eyes glinting playfully.

Cloud's face broke into a large grin at her cute antics. "Sure, but I'll need my phone back to take a picture of you."

"Nope! This is going to be a selfie," she laughed, raising the phone up in front of her.

He watched as she tried out a few faces, before eventually settling on one with the tip of her tongue slightly sticking out one side of her mouth. Cloud took his phone back from her as she walked back and handed it to him, chuckling when he saw the picture.

"I love it."

"Good," she said happily, grabbing his arm once more and holding it tightly. "What's next?"

"We've still got some time until the one thing I have planned. Is there anything else you're dying to see?"

"Well… when you phrase it like that, how about the haunted house?" Aerith asked, a gleam in her eye.

He took an inadvertent step back, surprised at this suggestion.

"Something wrong?"

"No, nothing," he said quickly. "I just… didn't realize you were a fan of scary things."

"Oh, I'm not. I think they're fun because of how silly they are! They're never actually that scary, right?" she replied in amusement.

"Uh, yeah, of course," he tried to lie, but from the half-smile on her face, felt like he hadn't managed to fool her.

He knew it was silly—he was a trained SOLDIER after all—and he'd seen things most people couldn't imagine. For whatever reason, though, off the battlefield, he'd never been able to handle anything remotely spooky.

As they stepped through the front entrance together, Cloud mentally prepared himself for what was to come. His only goal was to make it out the other side without embarrassing himself in front of Aerith. Unfortunately, that plan was immediately shattered into a million pieces as he screamed when a fake ghost shot out of a compartment hidden in the wall. Aerith leaped off her feet next to him, but from the delayed reaction, he realized it had been from his scream—not the jump scare. His face ignited in embarrassment.

"Oh Cloud," she gently chided him, putting a comforting hand on his back. "You should have just told me this wasn't your cup of tea. Do you want to leave?"

He shook his head. "No, I can do this," he said firmly.

Together, they continued to make their way through the haunted house, Aerith slightly behind him, encouraging and reassuring him each time he ended up getting scared. After one particularly bad encounter involving a gremlin, Cloud was starting to second-guess his earlier resolve. By this point, he realized, it was probably just as quick to finish as it would be returning to the start. And if he was being entirely honest with himself, despite all the scares, he was enjoying the time spent cuddling with Aerith after each one.

They stepped around the next corner, and he stopped in his tracks—so abruptly Aerith ended up running into him.

"Cloud? What's wrong?"

But he couldn't answer—not as he stared at the impaled zombie propped against the wall at the end of the hallway.

"Oh, shit…" Aerith whispered next to him, the sound of her swearing jarring him out of his daze. "I'm so sorry Cloud, this was a mistake. We shouldn't have come in here," she stammered, resting a hand on his arm.

"No, no I'm… fine. It just startled me is all," he said weakly, taking deep breaths. He was still standing there, locked in place, his eyes fixed on the floor directly in front of him.

Cloud knew he was downplaying how badly the sight had hit him, but he didn't want to make Aerith worry any more than she already was. Besides, her presence at his side with her hand on his arm was already helping him get over his initial shock.

He was surprised when she stepped in front of him and gently raised his head so he was looking into her eyes. "I'm right here for you Cloud. We're going to get through this together, okay?" she told him—the sheer love in her voice causing the hand grasping his heart to release.

He swallowed deeply and nodded, following as she slowly walked backwards down the hallway, her eyes never leaving his as she used her body to block out the sight at the end. Once they stepped through the door at the end of the hall, Aerith wrapped her arms around him and held him close. He slowly relaxed against her as the last of his tension melted away.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"Of course. I'm sorry you had to see that," she replied, one hand rubbing comforting circles on his back.

The rest of the haunted house was largely uneventful and passed in silence. He was too drained to react to any more of the scares, and even found himself laughing with Aerith at one that involved a malboro and a behemoth in a way that was simply too ridiculous to be scary.

Once they finally made it outside, they grabbed a quick bite to eat—some popcorn chicken for the main course and fruit skewers for dessert. Afterward, Cloud led them to the final destination of the night, excited the time had finally arrived.

********************

The sun was fading past the horizon as they settled down on opposite sides of the Ferris wheel's compartment. As much as he wanted to ride side by side, it had been designed to only support one person facing the other. Cloud wasn't too upset about this, however, as it didn't impact his plans. It also had the added benefit of allowing him to easily see Aerith's reactions as she admired the view.

They sat together in silence as they slowly ascended, not a whole lot to admire other than the neon signs and spotlights while they were still close to the ground. Once they were about halfway up, however, Aerith eagerly bounced in her seat and pointed off to the left. "Look, you can see the racetrack! I wonder if Melonpan has won a race yet…"

He chuckled. Her love for chocobos was infectious, and he wished the green chocobo the best of luck. Cloud's heart was racing as they drew closer and closer to the peak of the rotation. Now that they were higher up, fireworks were going off around them, lighting up the night in beautiful explosions of color.

As spectacular as the view from the top was, the incredible sights of Gold Saucer spread out below them, Cloud couldn't tear his eyes away from the woman sitting across from him. His leg was bouncing nervously and he forced it to stop. Knowing it was time, he took a deep breath and reached across, taking her hands in his. Aerith turned her head from the view to look at him in curiosity.

"I love you," he said, simply, staring deep into the emerald forests of her eyes.

They instantly filled with happy tears, Aerith seeming too choked with emotion to be able to immediately respond. Her head nodded vigorously instead, smiling brightly at him through her tears. Eventually, she managed to find her voice, and Cloud heard the four words he wanted most.

"I love you too."

And then she was in his lap, her hand resting lightly on his chest, her face inches from his own—her mouth parted slightly. Cloud dipped his head, his lips lightly brushing against hers. They were so soft, so warm, so wonderful. The fireworks going off all around them faded as his attention was consumed by the woman in his arms. He never could have imagined all those months ago when they'd first met, things would have ended up like this.

From the chance encounter in the streets of Midgar, to their breakfast together, and then of course the not-a-date. Their meeting had been an amazing accident and he would be eternally grateful for it. He wasn't sure he'd ever be able to top the hilltop date, but maybe, just maybe, he'd managed to do it again today. Hopefully, there would be many more of these incredible moments in their future.

What had started as a tender joining of lips had now escalated into deep, passionate kisses. Cloud ran his hands from her waist up to her chest, gently rubbing her breasts through her shirt with his fingers. Aerith let out a soft, surprised moan, pressing her side closer against him. Her hand slid downwards, between them, rubbing against the tent in his pants. Moaning with need, he nibbled on her lip, loving the cute, little gasps she made between kisses.

Aerith had completed him, made him whole once more. His scars were still there, of course, but now they were a remembrance, no longer a burden of the past. He was no longer afraid of letting her get close, instead, he was afraid to lose her, and everything she'd come to mean to him.

"I'm sorry, but you only get two rotations with one ticket. I'm going to have to ask you to pay again if you want to keep riding."

Cloud was yanked of his thoughts by the voice of the ride attendant, followed by a knock on the door of their compartment.

"Seriously?" Aerith muttered against his lips, causing him to chuckle. Her cheeks were tinged red as she grudgingly disentangled herself from his lap. Together, they got up and stepped out of the carriage, never letting go of each other's hands.

"Back to the room?" he asked, still breathing heavily.

"Back to the room," she confirmed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to once again thank my wonderful beta, Lichtschwert for coming up with the name Melonpan. It resulted in one of my favorite interactions between Cloud and Aerith in the entire story. Thank you so much for your help in coming up with a name!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's here! The lemon! That… I never actually intended to write back when this was a one-shot. In the end, it felt like the natural resolution of where their relationship would go. I've tried to make it tasteful and as much of an M-rated scene as possible. This chapter starts off steamy and continues to ramp up as it goes. If, at any point, you're uncomfortable reading, feel free to skip ahead to the final chapter.
> 
> I honestly wasn't sure how to handle this chapter. I didn't want to make the story E just for a single chapter that people can easily skip over. People *looking* for smut would be disappointed cause it's only a single chapter and then people who don't want to read smut might skip over the story even though it's such a small portion. Ultimately, I just hope I did a good enough job so people enjoy it and aren't upset.

Aerith was in a daze—she'd never felt this happy before in her entire life.

The date had been beyond incredible. Seeing the chocobos—Melonpan in particular—had been wonderful, and then winning Snowy had felt so good—especially considering that sleazebag had tried to cheat her after giving her that disgusting look. The haunted house, on the other hand, had been less than ideal. Thankfully, Aerith felt like after she'd stepped in, Cloud had recovered quickly—which had been a relief. And of course, her heart was still racing from the three words he'd said at the peak of the night, followed by their first kiss.

Now, as she and Cloud staggered back into their room after he'd struggled to open the door while still kissing her, Aerith was filled with anticipation for what the rest of the night still held in store.

"Shower or bed?" Cloud asked, stopping outside the bathroom with her.

She paused in thought for a moment, desperate to get into bed with Cloud, but also not wanting either of them to be gross and smelly after the long day. "Shower," she eventually conceded, and then for clarity, "Together." Giggling as his eyebrows nearly leaped off his face, she moved into the bathroom, Cloud close on her heels.

Aerith was incredibly self-conscious as she stripped out of her clothes after starting the water. She hesitated once she was down to her underwear. Before committing to removing the last pieces, she unbraided her hair, tossing her ribbons onto the pile of discarded clothing. Cloud had also stopped, down to only his boxers. She smiled sheepishly at him—Cloud giving her the exact same look—and they finally removed their last articles of clothing in sync.

She knew she was staring as she took in Cloud's whole body, but didn't feel guilty about it since he was looking at her in exactly the same way. Even though she'd already seen most of him last night, it was completely different without the towel. From the tips of his adorable spiky hair to his toes he was perfect—rippling muscles and rugged planes.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered in awe, causing her face to heat up.

"You're pretty good looking yourself," she teased, unable to tear her eyes away from him.

A cold draft of air caused Aerith to shiver slightly, and she reached into the shower to check the water, relieved to find it warm enough. Stepping in, she poked her head back out of the curtain. "Take as much time as you need, you're welcome to join me whenever you're comfortable."

She grabbed her shampoo and began her normal shower routine. With her eyes closed, she was surprised to hear the noise of the curtain moving before she felt Cloud step into the shower behind her.

"Here, let me help you with that," he said softly, his hands moving to her scalp.

Aerith dropped her hands to her sides, more than willing to let him take over. "I thought it might take you a little longer to—oh that feels so nice."

She lost her train of thought as Cloud's hands gave her an incredible scalp massage, a feeling of peace and relaxation settling over her like a heavy blanket. This went on for several minutes until, regretfully, she felt him washing the soap from her hair, being extra careful to keep it out of her eyes.

"That was amazing…"

"I'm glad you enjoyed it so much, not sure it was really anything special," Cloud said as he finished.

"No, I'm serious, it was incredible," she stated. "Here, let me wash yours, then you'll see."

They shuffled around in the cramped space so Aerith was now the one under the water, behind Cloud. As their bodies slid against each other, her breathing hitched. She gave him the same treatment she'd just received, smiling as he made soft noises of enjoyment during the process.

"Okay, you're right," he admitted as she washed the shampoo out. "That does feel surprisingly nice."

Aerith nodded happily, glad she'd been able to return the favor as Cloud quickly soaped himself up. Once he'd finished, they swapped places once more so he could wash the soap off, while Aerith began cleaning her own body, starting from the top.

"Mind if I help again?" Cloud asked, a hint of hesitation in his voice.

She shook her head and giggled softly. "Not at all, be my guest."

He reached around her and rubbed his hands against the loofah, soaping them up before he began to wash her back. The feel of his hands gliding across her skin was heavenly, and it made her so happy he was comfortable enough now to touch her like this. Aerith continued to scrub her arms, giggling softly when his hands circled around to wash her stomach.

She was pleased to notice Cloud's reluctance from the night before had vanished, his soap-lathered hands not hesitating to make their way upwards to her breasts. As his thumbs circled over her nipples, she let out a low sound of pleasure, tilting her head backward.

"Mmmmm, that feels so good," she whimpered, gasping again as his mouth kissed her now exposed neck.

"You taste a little soapy, but I still love your neck," he murmured into her skin, causing her body to heat up even more.

"You're making it very challenging to focus," she pointed out playfully.

"Sorry, I'll try to behave," he replied, but she didn't think he really meant it. Not that she minded. If she were completely honest, she very much wanted him _not_ to behave.

Bending down to quickly wash her legs, she giggled as she bumped into something hard. Heat pooled between her legs. Cloud laughed as well before she suddenly felt him gently squeeze her butt. She squeaked in surprise, jumping upright and spinning around to face him.

Cloud lightly stepped forward, pinning her back to the wall as he stood directly in front of her—his chest brushing hers. He leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Something amusing you?"

She could feel her heartbeat in her ears, almost drowning out what he'd said. Her legs wobbled slightly, and she was thankful for the support of the wall behind her. Not wanting to allow him to maintain the upper hand, Aerith reached down and softly wrapped her hand around him, looking up at him with sweet seduction.

"Oh, not really. Just something I plan on getting _very_ intimately acquainted with shortly," she whispered, slowly stroking her hand up and down.

He almost toppled forward onto her. Quickly recovering, Cloud leaned in closer, his mouth capturing hers in a passionate kiss. She felt his tongue pressing lightly against her lips, and she opened her mouth slightly, welcoming it with her own.

As their tongues introduced themselves, Aerith continued to gently stroke him, feeling his hand, in turn, slide up her leg until it found her core—a gentle brush of his finger causing her to moan loudly into his mouth. She saw stars as he slipped the finger gently inside, her own hand stilling as she focused entirely on the feeling of his movements.

Having Cloud touch her there was causing fireworks to go off inside her, and she was starting to worry—even with the support of the wall—she might not be able to remain standing for much longer. Her body was burning with desire. Realizing this was rapidly reaching the point of no return, she raised a hand to Cloud's chest and gently pushed him back, struggling to catch her breath.

"As much as I'd love for you to take me against the wall, right here, I really want our first time to be in bed," she panted. His eyes were full of his love for her as he nodded his head, and she was relieved to see he wasn't upset at all that she'd pulled the breaks.

Cloud shut off the water and they stepped out together, quickly drying themselves off. Aerith let out a squeak of surprise as he lifted her off her feet once she had finished drying herself, spinning her around so they were facing each other again. She wrapped her legs around his stomach, giggling, as he slowly walked them towards the bedroom, being careful to duck down as they went through the door so she didn't hit her head.

She let out yet another moan as Cloud's mouth found her breast, his tongue flickering over her nipple, twirling around it in the most incredible way. "Not fair!" she breathed, causing him to laugh. The vibrations from that only increased her pleasure.

"You should know a SOLDIER doesn't play by the rules," he replied, pulling his head back to look up at her cheekily.

"Ex-SOLDIER," she playfully reminded him, gasping as his tongue moved to her other side and resumed its delightful dance. She could get used to this. Very easily.

"What about your hair?" Cloud asked, pausing as he reached the foot of the bed. "Don't we need to let it dry?"

Aerith blinked, coming out of her pleasure-filled fog at the question. "Nope. Don't care. Bed. Now," she demanded between kisses. She knew her hair would be a nightmare to deal with in the morning, but at the moment, she couldn't care less.

Cloud laughed, turning so he fell onto his back, Aerith on top of him before he rolled them onto their sides. It didn't take long for them to resume exactly where they'd left off in the shower. Her hand wrapped around Cloud. His fingers between her thighs. Their mouths locked together in another passionate kiss.

She couldn't contain the gasp of pleasure that broke free as she felt Cloud's fingers continue to swirl around her most sensitive spot. She was used to the feeling from the times she played with herself, but with Cloud's fingers instead of her own, everything was amplified, elevated to an entirely new level she'd never experienced. It wasn't even that his technique was shockingly good—she was even tempted to reach down and guide his fingers to show him what would really set her off—it was simply the fact it was _his_ fingers that were the ones touching her. Another cry escaped her lips as she arched her back slightly, feeling herself rapidly drawing closer to that moment of supreme bliss.

Unable to take it any longer, she rolled over onto her back—her hand on Cloud going slack—as the sensations coursing through her demanded her complete attention. Her legs stiffened as the pressure continued to build. Still Cloud's fingers continued their circular motion, until, at last, she couldn't hold out. Her toes curled—her hands firmly gripping the sheets at her sides—as her entire body erupted. Pleasure surged from her core to her brain and then spread delightfully throughout the rest of her—tingles of pure bliss. Her muscles which had just felt so taut were now a gooey mess.

It took Aerith several long moments to get her breathing under control before she lolled her head to the side to look over at Cloud. A gentle smile rested on his delicious lips as he watched her, a burning spark of warmth in his eyes.

"From the way you looked and sounded, it seems like I didn't manage to mess that up," he said, looking somewhat proud of himself.

Aerith grinned as she nodded in response, still coming back down from her high. She'd been so consumed by the feeling, she had no idea what kinds of noises she'd been making. Given how much she'd enjoyed it, she wasn't even remotely embarrassed with whatever they might have sounded like.

"You were incredible," she replied honestly. "That was… amazing." She felt her face heating up as she stared into his eyes.

"But I want more."

* * *

Cloud was shocked with how bold he'd been since he'd decided to playfully squeeze Aerith's butt in the shower. He was thankful everything afterward had seemed to just happen, gradually feeling more and more natural as he allowed himself to have fun together with her.

Seeing the end result of what he'd been able to do to her—with just his fingers—filled him with so much happiness. He was overjoyed to have been able to give her such a positive experience. He didn't need Aerith to clarify what she meant, he also wanted more. Rolling over so he was between her legs, he leaned in to kiss her, her mouth hungrily meeting his.

As he easily slipped inside her, they broke off their kiss, both moaning at the overwhelming sensation of being united. He paused for a moment, giving them each some time to get used to the feeling while taking in the sight of the woman who had come to mean so much to him.

Aerith's emerald green eyes were locked on his, filled with a look of desire so raw, he felt his heart race even faster. Her hair was strewn around her head—all over the place—and the contrast from her normal braid took his breath away. Her breasts were rising and falling with her heavy breathing. All of these sights combined blew Cloud away with how beautiful she was. He was so thankful she'd come into his life. So lucky.

"Cloud, please," she breathed.

He nodded his head, needing the same thing. Internally, however, he was freaking out. It had been so long since he'd last done this. He hadn't forgotten what to do, of course, but this was as terrifying as his first experience had been. Given how badly hers had gone, he wanted this to be so much better. It had to be.

"Cloud," she said firmly, raising a hand to caress his cheek. "Stop worrying about it. Just do what feels natural. And for the love of the Ancients, please just fuck me before I lose my mind."

He couldn't help but laugh with her at this—his eyes widening at her word choice—before their laughter turned into soft gasps as it inadvertently caused their bodies to move together. As he slowly pulled back, he was completely overwhelmed by the feeling of her surrounding him, wondering if she was experiencing the same. He got his answer as he pushed back in once more, her guttural moan of pleasure telling him all he needed to know.

Cloud fell into a steady rhythm. The sensation of the movement was just as enjoyable as seeing and hearing Aerith's reactions to it. Her gasps and moans clearly indicated how much she was enjoying it. As he picked up the pace, he accidentally ended up slipping completely out, both of them crying out in disappointment at the sudden absence of connection, before she started to laugh.

He found himself chuckling along with her, wondering why he'd been so nervous in the first place. Getting to share this experience with her was incredible—the culmination of everything they'd been through. He shifted and slid back in, their bodies melding together perfectly once again. Cloud leaned down and devoured her mouth. He would never get tired of feeling her lips against his own. They shared another deep, passionate kiss before Aerith's lips broke free, unable to contain another moan as he resumed his earlier motion.

She was working in tandem with him now, her hips moving in time with his own, driving them both closer to release. "Cloud… I'm so close…" she gasped out, her legs wrapped tight around his waist.

"Me too," he panted, increasing his thrusts.

Aerith's back suddenly arched under him, as she clenched even tighter around him, a loud cry escaping her lips. This sensation, in turn, was all it took to push Cloud over the edge. He felt his body convulse as pleasure flooded him, his body going slack immediately after. He caught himself with his elbows to her sides before he completely fell on her, both of them breathing heavily. They shared a tender kiss, their chests repeatedly bumping together as they slowly recovered.

Cloud moved to roll off her, but she held him in place with a firm hug. "A bit longer, please."

He grunted in amusement but was more than happy to remain in place, making sure to use his arms to keep his full weight off her as he stared down into her eyes.

* * *

Staring up into Cloud's sapphire eyes, Aerith was drowning in the ocean of sensations they'd created together. His face was so close to hers. She loved every little detail she'd come to know so well already. The slant of his nose. The quirk of his lips. The hard line of his jaw. She wanted to lean up and kiss all of them, but her body was still recovering—her muscles a happy mush. Pure love was radiating off him, and she settled for basking in its wonderful warmth.

"Okay, _now_ I understand what people are talking about," she panted, still struggling to slow her breathing.

She smiled as Cloud laughed at this, his nose bumping against hers. "So it was as good for you as it was for me?" he teased.

"Better," she cheerfully responded, poking her tongue out at him, causing him to grin.

Aerith loved hearing Cloud's laugh, it made her feel all warm and gooey inside. And the way his eyes seemed to see directly into her did decidedly more pleasurable things to her. She was eternally grateful to her past self for deciding to give Cloud a chance by inviting him to breakfast that one day. It had been the start of what she hoped to be a very long journey together.

Eventually—too soon—Cloud rolled off onto his side, and she shifted to follow him, not wanting to lose contact. They ended up in the same position as the previous night, her head resting on his chest. As she drew lazy patterns on his back, she whispered into his ear.

"I love you so much…"

He squeezed her even more tightly to himself before he responded. "I feel like there has to be a better way to express how much you mean to me, but I can't find the words. I love you. Always. Forever."

Aerith felt happy tears running down her face at his words, and she vigorously nodded her head against his chest. "I know exactly what you mean," she whispered. "It's not enough, but I love you, I love you, I love you."

They held each other closely for a long time, enjoying the feeling of skin on skin, gentle hand tracing, and lazy kisses. As Aerith felt her eyes drooping, she rolled over so Cloud could spoon her, and they fell asleep.

* * *

Cloud woke up the next morning with Aerith still wrapped snugly in his arms, loving the feeling except for the fact his arm under her had mostly fallen asleep and was tingling. As he shifted slightly to try and restore blood to it, he felt her stir softly against him.

"I see someone's already alert and eager," she teased, her voice still heavy with sleep, gently wiggling her butt against him.

He blushed. "Sorry."

"Don't be silly," Aerith immediately responded, reaching back and briefly running a hand along his arm to reassure him. "It's natural, I don't mind at all."

Cloud's muscles relaxed as he used his free hand to move Aerith's hair away from the gentle curve of her neck, before leaning in to softly kiss it. At the low mewl of pleasure that came from her in response, Cloud marveled he was able to make her feel so good. The knowledge of that, in turn, filled him with a deep sense of happiness.

"It's our last full day here," Cloud noted as he broke the kiss. "Anything, in particular, you still want to do?"

"You mean besides spending all day in bed with my boyfriend?"

"If that's what my girlfriend wants, I'm certainly not going to object," he laughed, lifting his hand from her waist to gently cup one of her breasts.

Aerith let out one of the soft moans he was quickly becoming addicted to, rolling over to face him. Before she could say anything, however, he leaned in and kissed her—unable to stop with her face so close to his. She didn't seem to mind, her mouth eagerly meeting his, their tongues uniting in a now-familiar dance. After several blissful moments, Cloud was disappointed when she pulled back slightly—catching her breath.

"You're really not helping with the whole getting out of bed thing, here," she pointed out playfully.

"Oh, does that mean we're _not_ spending all day in bed?" he pouted, pretending to be upset.

Her laughter in response was music to Cloud's ears, easily the sound of hers he'd come to love the most. "As nice as I'm sure that would certainly be—as you pointed out—it's our last day here and it would be a shame to spend it _all_ indoors."

"But for right now," she continued, pushing Cloud onto his back before rolling over to straddle him. "I want to have some more alone time together."


	10. Chapter 10

Two days had passed since Aerith and her new boyfriend had returned from their impromptu vacation, and her friend was _still_ glowing. Tifa was amazed at how different Aerith was after only a few short days. More than anything, though, she was dying to meet the man responsible. She wanted to thank him for everything he'd done. Aerith had kept her promise from the call to introduce them, and tonight the three of them were all meeting up at a restaurant downtown.

Tifa had dressed in her favorite formal wear, a simple V-neck black dress that ended just above her—also black—heels. She'd arrived a little early, unable to contain her excitement. Glancing around, she wondered if the boyfriend was any of the men she could see. Of course, she didn't even know what he looked like in the first place.

"Tifa!" she heard Aerith call out, and she turned to greet her friend.

Tifa felt her jaw hit the floor as she caught sight of Aerith. She was wearing a stunning pink dress, completely different from her normal one. It began at her neck with a choker, connecting down to the waist leaving her shoulders and upper back exposed. It didn't reveal any of her cleavage, but fit her body in a way that emphasized her curves without hugging them. Her right leg was partially exposed by a slit that began halfway down her thigh, allowing for easy movement in the otherwise tight dress. In short, it was the kind of dress her friend had never had the self-confidence to even try on in the store when they'd gone shopping together.

Tifa blinked rapidly, desperately trying to regain her self-composure as Aerith walked over to her, a smile spreading across her friend's lips. "I'm not sure I've ever had a woman look at me like that before," she teased as she reached Tifa, hugging her in greeting.

As they broke apart, Tifa kept her hands on Aerith's shoulders, looking into her eyes. "What in the world happened? That dress is beautiful, but I've never seen you wear anything like it before."

Aerith did a happy little twirl, grinning when she completed her spin. "I like looking nice for my boyfriend," she explained, her shoulders giving a small shrug.

"Speaking of, where is he?" Tifa asked, glancing around behind Aerith to see if she could spot any likely candidates. "Oh, is he that hulking gorilla over there?"

Aerith playfully swatted at her, laughing. "He's not here yet, silly. He texted me something about having trouble with his tie and that we should just meet inside."

Together, they made their way inside the restaurant, a waiter escorting them to their table in the back, before saying he'd return once their final member had arrived.

"He's actually real, right? You're not just leading me on some wild goose chase?" Tifa asked, winking at Aerith to show she was just messing around.

"Oh, he's real alright…"

"Now you're just getting sappy," she complained, grinning. "I can't believe how much of an impact he's had on you."

"Neither can I," Aerith replied, serious now. "He's the actual proof of what you've been telling me all these years. I'm just so glad we ended up meeting."

"It certainly—"

Aerith interrupted her as she jumped to her feet, waving at someone behind Tifa. "Cloud, over here!" she called out.

Tifa froze, assuming she must have misheard the name. As the man wearing a crisp black tuxedo with a pink tie the same color as Aerith's dress walked into view, however, she realized she hadn't.

"Cloud?" she exclaimed, almost falling backward out of her chair in shock.

"Tifa?!" Cloud yelled, his eyebrows flying upward—eyes wide.

Aerith's head flipped between the two of them. "Wait, you _know_ each other?"

"He's my ex!"

"She's my ex!"

Dozens of emotions surged through Tifa. Surprise, sadness, loneliness, but she was relieved jealousy wasn't one of them. The emotion trumping the rest was one of overwhelming happiness. Happiness, that both of her friends who had been hurt so badly had managed to come together through some crazy twist of fate to find the joy they so very much deserved.

There was a long moment of silence after Cloud and Tifa's joint declaration. Aerith's eyes were darting between the two of them, and Tifa saw a look of fear on her friend's face that nearly broke her heart.

"It's fine, there's nothing for you to worry about," she reassured her, placing her hand on Aerith's arm and gently squeezing it. "Cloud and I are good friends now, and more than anything I'm glad to see both of you so happy together."

"Is this really okay?"

"Yes, it is," Tifa firmly replied. She was relieved to see Aerith hesitantly smile back at her. Glad her friend seemed to be doing better, Tifa turned to Cloud. "I don't understand. Given your… condition I never expected you to be the one who'd asked Aerith out."

He smiled softly at this. "I didn't, actually. I walked away, planning on leaving the crazy flower girl alone. She's the one who chased after me."

Aerith's eyes were like saucers, her mouth wide open as she stared at Cloud in mock offense. "Crazy flower girl?!"

Tifa wasn't paying enough attention to catch the rest of their exchange, her mind running over all the conversations she'd had with both of them the past month, the pieces slowly clicking together.

"Wait, so when you asked me if you should show up to the date or just bail on her, you were talking about Aerith?" she asked Cloud, interrupting the two of them in the middle of their banter.

"Hold on, you almost stood me up?" Aerith asked, actually sounding upset now.

"No!" Cloud protested, hesitating as Tifa raised an eyebrow. "Well… I mean, kind of? But I didn't!"

Aerith turned to look at her, a look of gratitude in her eyes. "Thank you for talking my silly boyfriend out of doing something stupid."

Cloud grumbled something unintelligible in response to this, causing Tifa and Aerith to laugh together. The quirk of his lips showed he was just as amused as they were.

Aerith tented her hands together as she gave Tifa a playfully evil look. "Now, what else can you tell me about Cloud?"

* * *

**Epilogue**

Cloud descended the stairs from the second floor into the main area of the flower store, reminding himself again to fix the middle step as it squeaked under his foot. Walking to the front of the shop, he stepped up behind Aerith and gave her a tight hug from behind, kissing his wife on the neck in her favorite spot. She laughed happily, setting down the arrangement she'd been working on, and turning in his arms to meet his lips with her own.

"Good morning, love," she greeted him, as they broke apart after a few moments. "Did you remember to feed Raspberry?"

"I swear that cat eats better than both of us combined," Cloud grumbled playfully, nodding to indicate he'd done as she'd asked. They both loved the cat to death, more than happy to comply with whatever she wanted.

"I hope that's not an indication of what you think about my cooking, _dearest_ ," Aerith replied, one eyebrow arching upwards.

Cloud panicked, unsure if she was actually upset or not. "What? Err, no, of course not! I was just…"

He relaxed as she smiled and leaned in to kiss him quickly. "Sorry, it's just too fun to fluster you," she said with a laugh.

Cloud smiled sheepishly back at her, still as madly in love with her as when they'd gotten married, just over a year ago. The wedding had been a small, but joyous affair, three months after their trip to Gold Saucer. As per his wife's request, they'd held their honeymoon in Costa del Sol, and it had been a week neither of them would ever forget.

Reluctantly shelving those wonderful memories, for now, Cloud focused back on the present. "I take it, those are the deliveries for today?" he asked, gesturing to the variety of arrangements she had lined up on the table.

"Yup! Just let me finish up this last one and you're good to go."

He watched as she went back to work, still impressed with her dedication to making each and every arrangement unique and as close to perfect as possible. Aerith's flower business was booming now, thanks largely due to its new delivery service option, which allowed them to serve customers across the entire city. Cloud was happy to be able to contribute in any way to the success he felt his wife deserved for her tireless hard work. It had also been nice to finally put the last remnants of his past to rest as well—the increase in profit allowing him to no longer need to work as private security. Instead, he was now his wife's, dedicated—personal—bodyguard, focused on making her as happy as he possibly could.

Once she finished her final touches, Aerith helped him carry the flowers out to his waiting motorcycle. Cloud had worked with Cid to customize the side compartments to be better able to transport the delicate arrangements, so they'd arrive as if they'd been picked up in person. As Cloud finished carefully storing the flower deliveries, he paused before hopping on Fenrir. He looked back at the house he'd built for them with pride. It hadn't been easy, but he was willing to move mountains for her. Purchasing the building behind her stall had nearly drained his savings, but it was a small price to pay. The hardest part had been converting it to meet their needs.

The first floor was dedicated to the flower shop, with large glass windows to easily allow the sun inside. Their personal living space was contained to the second floor, complete with a kitchen, living room, bathroom, and bedroom. It wasn't the most stunning of homes, but he was still proud of it because of how personal it felt to have built it from the ground up. He was already planning the next round of upgrades.

When he'd asked her why she was so attached to this particular location, Aerith had admitted it was because she'd felt like she didn't deserve anything better. Now, however, she wanted to remain because it was where they'd first met. Cloud smiled fondly to himself as he threw his leg over Fenrir.

"Drive safely," Aerith said, leaning over to kiss him—her lips moving away far too soon. "There are only a few deliveries today, so you should be back home early. We'll have plenty of time to watch a movie together or... something else." She winked.

Cloud chuckled and slipped on his helmet, fastening it tight.

"Love you!" he called out in farewell, starting up the bike as she stepped away. He eagerly set out on his route, looking forward to completing it so he could spend the rest of the day in the arms of the woman he loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It honestly feels kind of weird to be posting the end of this story after working on it for so long. I started back at the very end of October so it's been almost exactly two months since then. The story has come to mean so much to me, and as I said in the opening note, I really hope I was able to tell a story that made you feel. I also have to once again thank my absolutely incredible beta Lichtschwert for all of the incredible feedback that really helped polish this story and take it to the next level. This story would not be the same without you. Thank you.
> 
> For those of you who liked this story, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the story isn't over just yet! I've got both a prequel **and** a sequel planned within this universe. The prequel will be my first ever foray into Cloud/Jessie, detailing the story of how he met Avalanche and everything up until that one, fateful day. It was a lot of fun to write the two of them together in his flashback, and I felt like I needed to give them their own moment to shine. The sequel, on the other hand, picks up shortly after the epilogue you just finished. Cloud has made some… unfortunate mistakes over the course of this story, and there are going to be consequences for them. Don't worry, it's still a happy ending for our two love chocobos!
> 
> The bad news is that both of these stories aren't going to show up for quite a while. I've actually been working on a separate Clerith AU for about a month now while working on polishing up this story. It's **very** different from anything else I've worked on, but I'm having so much fun writing it. It's also going to be quite a bit longer than anything I've written before so I'll be moving back to posting as I go instead of after it's all finished like I did this time. I hope some of you will enjoy it, I'm trying to explore another side of our favorite pair, while still keeping their unique bond intact. I've got a very small teaser from the first chapter here for you, which I hope to have posted around mid-January.
> 
> * * *
> 
> **Sneak Peek**
> 
> * * *
> 
> "Look, I'm glad you're amused, but I need an answer. Tonight," Rufus said firmly.
> 
> Her smile widened as she saw his throat bob and his eyes dart from hers once he finished talking. This was exactly what she enjoyed about their interactions. Why he was one of the few clients she even accepted multiple requests from. Rufus might have been the president of Shinra Electric, with hundreds of employees at his beck and call, but that didn't mean he wasn't terrified of her.
> 
> Aerith thrived on that terror—drinking it like a fine wine.
> 
> "My, my, so insistent tonight," she purred, dropping her hand back to the table and directing her entire attention at him. She struggled not to laugh as she saw him shift uncomfortably in his chair. This was too much fun. "Who's the target?"
> 
> "Can I take that as your agreement to the assignment, then?"
> 
> "Who's. The. Target?" Aerith hissed, not pleased to have to repeat herself.
> 
> There was a long pause as Rufus reached up and loosened his tie, a bead of sweat tracing down his brow. "A researcher. From Junon. He's been in town for a week."


End file.
